


Wrong Turning

by jolikawaiiciel (LottieHolmes)



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-09
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-04-03 16:11:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 24,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4107043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LottieHolmes/pseuds/jolikawaiiciel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Present day AU. Ciel Phantomhive, a boy with traumatic childhood and a dangerous habit starts university after years of being homeschooled. His new flatmate Sebastian Michaelis discovers his secret and uses it for his own amusement.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Alcohol and Abrasions

**Wrong Turning:**

**Chapter 1:**

Late in the afternoon of a summer’s day, Ciel Phantomhive alighted from his aunt’s car and stared at the imposing building in front of him. It looked like any average student accommodation building with separate blocks, posters on windows and a traffic cone somehow precariously balanced on the roof as well as empty alcohol bottles half concealed in the bushes.

His main reasoning behind finding such an ordinary sight so intimidating was that it was his first time mixing with other people as he had been homeschooled for all of his life until now.

Being a university student meant that he would be one small person in a mass of students that were probably going to be drunk off their faces half the time and he was going to have to interact with these people and the more contact he had with people, the more chance there was that someone would see the cut marks on his wrists or ask him questions about his eye patch.

His aunt, who had accompanied him, dumped his suitcase on the ground next to him.

“Stop staring into space, Ciel,” she complained. “You need to move in as soon as possible so you can make new friends sooner.”

Ciel tore his eyes away and resigned himself to the task of lugging his suitcase into the building with his aunt behind him, dragging a small matching suitcase.

Their first hurdle was trying to find out which block was actually Ciel’s as they weren’t arranged alphabetically and working out how to use the key fob they had been given.

Eventually, after several flights of stairs, they reached Ciel’s new room and deposited the suitcases on the floor.

“Why do I have to be on the top floor!?” Ciel huffed, already exhausted from the short journey.

“Think of it as improving your stamina,” his aunt suggested. “Your route to campus also involves a hill which should improve it further.”

Ciel sat down on the mattress to recover his breath and took note of his surroundings which were a desk, chair , wardrobe and a pin board.

“At least I don’t have to share a room or bathroom with anyone,” he conceded. “I refuse to clean anyone elses' hair out the plughole.”

"Are you less nervous now that we are actually here?" his aunt enquired curiously.

Ciel shot her a cold glance causing her to lapse into silence. He gave her an answer a few moments later.

"I have accepted that I have to stay here and I don't have a chance of persuading you to take me back home, do I?"

He attempted a manipulative puppy dog look just for the sake of it. His aunt had stopped caving into it years ago.

"No, you don't have a chance at persuading me." she softened slightly and attempted to hug him. "If it's university work you are worried about, you don't need to be so concerned- you're the most intelligent person I know and I'm a doctor."

"I suppose you are right," he agreed reluctantly. "I'm not exactly stupid."

She continued on. "If it's the socialising side, remember to smile and be friendly in the first week. After that, you can act more like yourself. Remember that you can hide your eyepatch with your hair if you don't want it to be seen."

"Of course I don't want it to be seen," he snapped at her. "Everyone will never stop asking questions if they noticed it and if they found out the truth; they would pity me and I would hate that."

His eyes inadvertently dropped to his arms where his long sleeves were pulled over his wrists. He couldn't let anyone else find out about his habit either. 

"I know," she said. "I'm just not used to the idea of you being around people that don't know the truth about it."

The only people that Ciel interacted with on a regular basis were those that were related to him and knew what had happened to him all those years ago.

"Lizzie started her university last week so you can ask her for advice if you desperately need it," she reminded him. "My university days were a long time ago- Fresher's week didn't even exist then, though stealing a traffic cone has always been a classic."

Ciel envisioned a younger version of his aunt stealing a traffic cone from a set of roadworks and placing it on top of a statue. He found it a little too easy to imagine.

His aunt checked her watch. "I have a shift at the hospital in a few hours and I need to drive back so I should leave now."

She pulled him in for another awkward hug and left him there alone, wondering whether or not her advice about smiling was valid since his smile had been known to scare people which was usually very useful, but not in his current situation.

He occupied himself with unpacking his belongings and arranging his books in alphabetical order. When he had nothing else left to unpack besides his kitchenware he knew he couldn't put off entering the kitchen and meeting his flatmates. He had been hearing loud voices coming from the other end of the flat for a while.

He picked up as much as he could and summoned up the courage to leave his room. He pushed open the kitchen door and cautiously peeked inside. Sitting around the kitchen counter were three males. Two were blonde and were happily taking, one with an unlit cigarette at the side of his mouth and the other blonde had red hairclips pinning back his hair and looked at least ten years younger than his conversation partner. The other male present was dark haired with glasses and was perusing a heavy looking book silently.

The cigarette toting one caught sight of him first. "See Finny, I told you the fifth person wasn't going to be a girl. It's unlikely that a flat would consist of four boys and a girl."

"Are you sure it's a boy?" Finny whispered, or thought that he was whispering as Ciel had no problems picking it up.

"I'm not a girl," he restrained himself from saying it too sulkily. "If there is five of us, where is the other person?"

"He arrived on the first day and I've only seen him once, I think his name is Sebastian," the older blonde explained. "I'm Bardroy, this is Finny and the person over there is Will."

"It's William T. Spears," Will corrected brusquely, finally looking up from his book to glance at Ciel. And you are?"

"Ciel Phantomhive."

Will acknowledged him with a tilt of his head. "I hope you are not a pyromaniac or break things easily."

Ciel was confused as to the source of that statement until he noticed the guilty expressions marring Bardroy and Finny's faces. Assumedly, one was a pyromaniac and the other one had trouble estimating his strength.

"No, I am not overly fond of fire and neither do I smash things easily," he answered.

"Then we shall get along. Someone has already set off the smoke alarm three times and someone else has smashed half their crockery."

"They were accidents," Bardroy protested.

"I still don't know how you managed it," Will sighed. "I haven't met the other person to work out what their shortcomings are."

"He likes tea," Finny informed them. "I peeked into his cupboard."

Ciel decided that he would always lock his bedroom door as Finny seemed to be very curious and he didn't want anyone to find his razors.

"Ciel, do you need help with your stuff?" Bardroy offered helpfully. "It will take ages if you do it small amounts."

"I am fine," he answered hastily, extremely unwilling to let anyone in his room.

He located an empty cupboard and made several trips to finish moving his kitchenware into the kitchen. When he had finally finished he rewarded himself by making some tea and sat down next to Bardroy.

"Are you coming out tonight?" Bardroy asked.

"Where to?"

"To a club or two," was the answer.

Ciel only considered the prospect seriously for a second. Clubs meant lots of people, dancing and alcohol. He was terrible at dancing and even if he tried to someone would be bound to notice his eyepatch.

"I am quite tired after moving in, perhaps another time."

Bardroy sensed his unwillingness and didn't push it or try to persuade him further.

"You can just do predrinks with us," Finny suggested happily.

Ciel found this new term more confusing than Bardroy's question about going out. Clearly university students used a lot of slang that he needed to catch up on.

"...Predrinks?"

"It's when you drink before going to the club. Buying drinks at a club is really expensive," Finny said.

Ciel could appreciate the logic behind the concept. Students were known to be poor and it was a sensible way to reduce costs. There was one obvious disadvantage though.

"Doesn't it mean that you get drunk before entering a club?"

"Some people overdo it and get refused entry because they are too drunk," Finny agreed. "You can get drunk freely today since you aren't going anywhere."

Bardroy took the opportunity pull out an array of bottles and cans out of his cupboard.

"I spent a lot of my maintenance loan on this so I won't have this much available ever again. I'll be on the cheaper stuff next week."

Ciel raised his eyebrows at that. He had done a little research before coming to university and had assumed that the stereotype of people spending their student finance on alcohol and drugs instead of rent and food couldn't be true as no one could be that stupid. Now he had the proof right in front of him.

"Take your pick," Finny said to him.

"I don't know," Ciel said unsurely.

"Finnian," Will interjected."He has obviously never tried alcohol before. Give him the weakest one."

For a moment Ciel was grateful for Will's intervention until he was handed a glass of the weakest alcohol and he had trouble swallowing it as it tasted so horrible.

"Beer takes a while to get used to," Bardroy commented. "I'll give you something that should taste better."

He mixed the contents of various brightly coloured bottles together in a glass and passed it to Ciel who found that much to his surprise that he did like it. It would have been a wise decision to stop at the first glass, but Ciel's alcohol tolerance was so low that common sense evaded him and he ended up having another glass.

He stopped drinking when he felt nauseous and he sprinted out of the kitchen when he felt vomit rise up his throat. He stumbled into what he thought was his room and into the bathroom so he could throw up in the toilet.

It only became evident that he had run into the wrong room when he had finished throwing up and his senses were clearer. His bathroom didn't have a cat patterned towel hanging on the rail, neither did he have a cat shaped toothbrush holder or boxes of beauty products along the wall. His door had been locked too and he had been able to enter this room without a key. The cat themed items didn't match with the flatmates he had met so far so he guessed that it must be the one he hadn't met yet.

His suspicions proved to be correct when he walked out of the bathroom to find someone waiting for him outside that he didn't recognise.

"I think you took a wrong turning."

Ciel took a closer look at his new flatmate. He was tall with long black hair that partially obscured his face and scarlet eyes.

"Are you Sebastian?" Ciel asked.

"Sebastian Michaelis. Who are you?"

"Ciel Phantomhive."

"Nice to meet you. I'm guessing that you aren't good with alcohol. Wait a second..." he paused and looked down at Ciel's wrists.

Ciel followed his gaze and realised that his sleeves had hitched up when he had been throwing up so some of his cut marks were visible.

Sebastian took hold of his arm without asking and pushed his sleeve up further to reveal a set of slash marks criss crossing his arms and wrists. The older marks were faded compare to more recent marks, but all the marks were easy to make out due to the paleness of his skin.

Ciel snatched his arm back, angry at being touched and at being caught out so soon.

"You're very interesting, Ciel," Sebastian murmured silkily. "I was wondering if I would find anything to amuse myself with here."

"It's none of your business," Ciel spat and stormed out of Sebastian's room, noting as he did that Sebastian was smirking at him which did not bode well for his future.

* * *

**This is intended to be an improved version of my first Kuroshitsuji fanfiction which I have mixed feeling towards mainly related to its plotholes**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wrong Turning:**

**Chapter 2:**

Ciel curled up in bed and fell into a fitful sleep only to be woken up when a drunken Finny arrived back early in the morning with a semi sober Bardroy who kept shouting at him to go to bed. Ciel cursed and jammed his spare pillow over his head to block his ears. He was going to have to live like this for ten months.

His mood did not improve when he woke up at eight with a pounding headache and a dry mouth. He swore to never drink alcohol again. What happened the previous evening with Sebastian had convinced him to stay sober forever. He didn't want anyone else to find out about his secret.

His flatmate also seemed to be the type to use it against him. He was doomed. All he could do was avoid him for the time being.

With that in mind he unlocked his door as quietly as he could and stepped out into the hallway. If Bardroy and Finny had come back early in the morning, they were likely to be sleeping in late. William T. Spears was an unknown entity as he didn't remember seeing him drinking anything. But he wasn't Sebastian so he didn't mind running into him.

He couldn't hear anything apart from his own breathing so he locked his door behind him and crept down to the kitchen. He had a craving for tea and he needed to drink something to appease his dry throat.

The teenager peeked into the kitchen and couldn't see anyone so he headed straight over to the kettle to make tea. The sink was in a filthy state and he unwillingly touched the cold tap to fill the kettle with water. At some point he would get out the anti bacterial spray that his aunt had given him and disinfect the taps.

He turned round to boil the kettle and came face to face with the person he fervently wanted to avoid. The half full teacup in the person's hand indicated that he had been in the kitchen all along and had simply been keeping quiet and had hidden around the side of the fridge so he couldn't be seen until it was too late.

"Hi," Sebastian said. "There's a blind spot next to the fridge, you should have checked that before you thought it was safe to come in here."

Ciel winced. He had been too hasty in deciding the kitchen was empty and now he was stuck. To avoid conversation he focused his attention on making tea. Sebastian allowed him to do that in peace although Ciel could feel his eyes on him throughout the whole process. Ciel was about to escape with his tea when Sebastian finally spoke again.

"Do you have to go into university this afternoon?"

"...Yes." Ciel saw no reason to lie about that.

Sebastian tilted his head. "We must be on the same course then. Bardroy, Finnian and Spears go in tomorrow."

Ciel's jaw tightened. Not only was the sadist his flatmate, he was taking the same subject. It was going to be impossible to avoid him. He was even more doomed than he had initially thought.

"What course are you on?" Ciel questioned. If he was lucky it would be different to his and the timing was just a coincidence. His hope plummeted when Sebastian answered.

"Business Economics."

Sebastian must have caught his change in expression. "Why do you look so unhappy?" He leaned on the worktop. "Is it because of what I said yesterday?"

"Yes! I don't want to go anywhere near you."

He picked up his teacup and stormed out the kitchen. He would have to leave early in the afternoon to avoid having to walk down to the university with Sebastian.

His aunt phoned around twelve to check up on him. The first thing she noticed was how hoarse his voice was.

"Did you go out partying all night?" the eagerness in her voice was evident.

"No. It was pre-drinks and I feel like shit at the moment- I drank too much," he griped. "You're a doctor, what is the cure?"

He could her giggle over the phone. "There isn't a proper one. You can either drink more so you can forget about it for a while or you can live with it."

"That was not helpful. However I am planning to never drink alcohol again."

"That's understandable. If you do, alternate between alcohol and a non alcoholic drink and make sure you trust the people you are with," she told him seriously. "How are your flatmates? Please tell me you have exchanged words with all of them and didn't just glare at them."

Technically he had spoken to all of them in some way even if his conversations with Sebastian had mostly involved arguing.

"Yes I have. They aren't my idea of perfect flatmates. Do you know if I can move flats?" he asked, trying not to sound like he would do anything to get away from one of them. He had a feeling that you had to stick to the flats you were assigned.

"No," his aunt said brusquely. "It hasn't even been 24 hours and you want to get rid of them."

"It's only one of them," he retorted and realised his mistake. Now he was going to be questioned and he couldn't tell his aunt that he wanted to avoid the flatmate who had found out he cut and had teased him about it.

"It doesn't matter," he said before she could answer and hung up.

It seemed that he was stuck living with Sebastian.

* * *

The time of the induction was two o'clock and his accommodation was approximately 25 minutes away. A normal person would leave half one so he sneaked out the flat at one o'clock to avoid leaving at the same time as Sebastian.

His route out the building was free of people as most students were likely to be sleeping off hangovers from the previous night.

In the entryway he encountered a short blond haired boy who was wearing the most ridiculous purple shoes and shorts he had ever seen. Ciel lowered his gaze to the floor to avoid conversation and went to walk past him.

"Are you doing Business Economics?" the blond queried.

Ciel blinked before answering. "Yes."

He wasn't prepared for the blond to grab his arm and cling onto him.

"What are you doing!?"

"I thought I would never find someone else doing the same thing and I would have to walk there alone," the blond lamented. "I'm Alois Trancy. What's your name?"

Ciel realised that if he was with someone else at the induction Sebastian would have less opportunities to approach him so he decided to go along with it.

"I am Ciel Phantomhive. Could you let go of me?"

Alois grinned and him and released his arm only to hook their arms together.

"Let's be friends!"

Ciel gritted his teeth. Alois Trancy was the epitome of the type of person he hated: loud, over friendly and obnoxious. That said if being friends with Trancy would keep Sebastian away, he could put up with him for a while.

They arrived at the campus half an hour early and stood around awkwardly in the student union. Ciel had no inclination to make conversation with the blond and Alois was busy looking around.

"I didn't have lunch," Alois said. "Do you want to come to Costa with me?"

Ciel perked up at the name of the coffee shop. "Is there one on campus?"

Alois gave him a doubtful look. "Didn't you come here on an Open Day?"

"No. It's a long story," he answered shortly, intending for that to end the conversation.

"We have enough time; you can tell me all about it."

Once Ciel had purchased a few slices of cake he was in a better mood to talk. Alois had ordered a latte with low fat milk. Ciel picked up his fork and cheerfully dug into his strawberry shortcake whilst a bemused Alois looked on.

"So what's the story? If you tell me I'll pay the next time you have cake."

That sounded absolutely fine to him so he launched into the story.

"I was homeschooled and I was intending to do Mathematics at Cambridge. A few days before I planned to apply, my aunt told me that she wanted me to do Business and Economics at this university instead,"

Alois looked sceptical. "You really changed your life's ambition as simply as that?"

"Of course not. My aunt tricked me into it."

Naturally Alois was curious. "How did she do that?"

"We had a chess match over it and I lost."

"You seem like the type that lives for chess so there must be something else to it," Alois commented and improved Ciel's estimation of him slightly.

"She cheated. We had not agreed beforehand that cheating was forbidden so I had to come here."

Alois sipped his latte. "She sounds devious. I should thank her."

"What for?"

"I have a friend now," he smiled. "Do you know anyone else on our course? There has to be other people in our halls that are."

"No," Ciel replied quickly and went back to his cake. He didn't want Alois to include Sebastian as one of his friends.

A shadow fell across his cake and he knew who it was even before he looked up. Sebastian Michaelis was looming over him.

"Did you try to leave without me?"

Ciel didn't answer and placed a large forkful of cake in his mouth to avoid having to speak for a while. Alois looked at both of them, clearly confused by his behaviour.

"Do you two know each other?"

Sebastian pulled out the spare chair and sat down. "I'm his flatmate. We're also on the same course."

Clearly remembering what Ciel had said about not knowing anyone else doing Business Economics, Alois made a connection.

"I don't think Ciel likes you at all."

Ciel's estimation of Alois rose even higher with that line. He nodded at him eagerly. Sebastian cast a nasty smirk in his direction.

"On the contrary, we are very good friends- I know one of his important secrets."

Ciel's heartbeat accelerated. He had suspected that Sebastian was going to start using his secret to manipulate him, but he hadn't predicted he would openly make references to it in front of other people. He needed to find out what Sebastian wanted from him.

* * *

**I'm now in my second year of university and am living in a flat in a house. I only met the rest of the people living here when I set off the fire alarm with an aerosol and they all came out to see who had tripped all the alarms in the building. I can't say that they were happy to meet me... At least they now know that the detectors work.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Wrong Turning** :

**Chapter 3:**

Without thinking too deeply about what it would look like to other people, Ciel grabbed hold of Sebastian's hand and dragged him off to the nearest discreet place which was behind some potted plants.

"What are you doing!?" he demanded. "Are you seriously trying to tell everyone about it?"

"Would you mind if I did?"

Ciel had never expressed such a strong desire to punch someone until that very moment.

"Of course I will mind!"

"Why?" Sebastian questioned.

A look at Sebastian's face demonstrated that he looked mildly curious so Ciel decided to answer seriously.

"The moment people find out you do something like that, they will give you pitying looks and ask if you are all right constantly or recommend that you get help. I don't want that to happen to me."

He risked a glance at Sebastian who now looked like he understood.

"Has anyone ever found out?" the older teenager asked. "Besides me?"

Ciel's eye twitched. "No."

"Then how do you know that will be how people react?"

Ciel realised that Sebastian, however annoying he was, had a point. He had just assumed that would be how people would react. Sebastian's reaction had been to look like he enjoyed finding out in a perverse way.

"I don't know," he answered reluctantly.

"Did I give you pitying looks and suggest you seek help?"

Ciel shook his head. It was true. Perhaps he had been wrong about it all along.

"It's just something to think about," Sebastian said and turned to leave.

"Are you going to tell anyone?" Ciel asked worriedly.

Sebastian turned his head to glance at him quickly and Ciel glimpsed a smirk decorating his face which caused all of his misgivings about his flatmate to return.

"It depends on you. My silence will have a price; it will be up to you to pay for it."

He strode off leaving Ciel staring after him. He was going to have to do something for Sebastian so he would keep quiet? Sebastian was certainly devious enough to come up with something like that.

He couldn't say that he wanted to do anything for Sebastian though. He had a feeling that Sebastian wasn't going to ask him to do something like his laundry or wash his dishes. In any case it would be a terrible idea for him to do anyone else's household tasks. Sebastian would end up with shrunken clothes. He imagined Sebastian trying to fit into skinny jeans that were now two sizes too small and were grey instead of black. The thought of that cheered him up slightly and took the edge off his fear.

He returned to the coffee shop where Alois was waiting for him by the entrance holding his unfinished cake in a napkin.

"We have to go now or we'll be late. I wrapped up your cake so you could eat it on the way."

He handed it to Ciel and they hurried off to find the right room. Ciel was glad that Alois hadn't asked any questions about Sebastian yet. He wasn't sure how to answer any questions about his flatmate.

When they finally arrived at the right place after being led astray by the university's room numbering system, there was only one row of seats with two empty adjacent seats left and it was behind a smirking Sebastian Michaelis.

Alois went in first and sat directly behind Sebastian whilst Ciel sat on the end. He was passed a timetable and he winced when he saw he was in at nine every morning. He was never going to get a lie in on a weekday and he could predict Friday and Saturday nights being very noisy with Bardroy and Finny going out partying and coming back late. He was going to be sleep deprived by the end of the first month.

"Mondays are a killer," Alois groaned. "I'm going to need a lot of caffeine."

Ciel checked the Monday part of the timetable to find that day of the week would involve six hours of sitting in lecture theatres with Sebastian lurking around.

"Do you want to walk to uni with me in the morning?" the blond suggested.

Ciel agreed to it and checked to see if Sebastian had overheard. The raven haired student was engrossed in doodling over his timetable and didn't show any reaction if he had overheard. Ciel squinted to see what he was drawing and found it was a shaded in black cat. That brought to mind Sebastian's cat themed bathroom. The sadist was obsessed with cats. Perhaps if he bought him something cat related he would keep his secret and not tell anyone.

He shook his head. That was unlikely to happen. Sebastian was clearly enjoying hounding him.

After the induction lecture had finished Ciel was unwillingly dragged around by Alois to socialise briefly with other people on his course. Or rather Alois did all the talking and he contributed nods where necessary. Whilst he was waiting for Alois to finish a conversation he observed that Sebastian was nowhere to be seen. Obviously he wasn't one for socialising either.

"Sorry about taking too long," Alois said once they were outside. "It's best that we introduce ourselves now instead of ignoring everyone until later. I know you're probably going to say that you don't care because it isn't the course you wanted to do, but you are going to have to live with it and make the best of it."

Ciel wondered how Alois knew exactly what he had just been about to say. He was impressed and the blond did have a valid point. He was just going to have to cope with doing a subject that he hadn't initially been interested in. The part where he was living with a sadistic asshole was not something he was going to make the best with.

"I'm going to the supermarket on the way back, are you going to come with me?" Alois asked after checking the time.

Ciel considered it. His aunt had provided him with a weeks' worth of all the food he would need apart from sweets. Now he wasn't living with her, he could purchase all the sweets and cake he wanted. He happily went shopping with Alois and ended up with a bag full of sweets and another filled with cake.

His improved mood died down after he had Alois had parted ways and he returned to the flat alone. He was back to trying to avoid Sebastian again. He put all the sweets in a spare drawer and occupied his time by reading until the evening.

He listened at the door of the kitchen and was met by dead silence so he cautiously looked in and checked the blind spot. He was alone.

As he was eating dinner half an hour later Sebastian walked in. Ciel averted his eyes and ignored him until he spoke.

"Ciel, your eye patch is showing."

Ciel flinched and his hands flew up to check. His eye patch wasn't properly covered by his hair. He had been so focused on trying to hide his wrists and avoid Sebastian that he had forgotten about hiding his eye patch. Had it been showing at the induction? No one had asked about it or given him strange looks.

"If you wondered, I spotted it yesterday evening after you ran away from me," Sebastian told me. "It wasn't showing at university."

He waited for him to ask about it and instead Sebastian began to make tea. It was strange that Sebastian had found another of his secrets and wasn't trying to use it against him yet.

"I'm not asking why you have it because I know who you are," Sebastian said as he poured milk into his tea. "You're Earl Ciel Phantomhive."

That part was said with a dangerous smile that showed his glinting teeth. Ciel froze upon hearing someone say his title. He never used that title.

"What makes you think I am an Earl?" I would be somewhere else if I was one," he replied in what he hoped was a casual manner as he tried to stop panicking.

Sebastian picked up his teacup and dragged a stool over so they were sitting opposite each other.

"I thought your name was familiar and the way you talk doesn't fit in here so I looked up your name and found out about your family."

It was futile to deny anything if Sebastian had researched it. However if Sebastian knew he was an Earl he would have had also known about his parents' fates. It had received a fair amount of publicity at the time.

"I am an Earl. That said, I never use that title and I do not fraternise with other titled people," he replied.

"There is one part I'm less sure about. What exactly happened to your parents and your eye?"

There was a brief moment of silence as Ciel had an internal debate in his head. One option was to leave the room, but he was living in the same flat and was on the same course as Sebastian so he would never be able to escape. If he told him now Sebastian would stop asking about it. Of course he wasn't obligated to tell him the entire truth; the fact that Sebastian had needed to ask him implied that he didn't actually know and would accept anything he was told.

"Did your research not reveal all the facts?" he queried.

"I wouldn't be asking if I knew. All I know is that the Phantomhives died in a fire eight years ago and their son was the only survivor. Most of the reports were more about the Earl's philanthropy than about how he died."

Ciel turned his face away. He had never told anyone the truth apart from the Police and his aunt and he had little idea what Sebastian intended to do with the information once he found out.

"They died in a fire and I did not," he said briefly. That was technically what had happened so he wasn't lying

"I know that part," Sebastian rolled his eyes. "You didn't even cover what happened to your eye."

"If I tell you, will you leave me alone and keep my secret?" This was a vital question. If he was lucky Sebastian would agree to it.

"No."

"If you must," Ciel sighed. "Will you at least never mention my eye patch or my parents again?"

Sebastian flashed him a demonic smile. "I promise."

"My father had a number of rival business competitors with some animosity between him and a certain one. That man came to the house one night with someone else and murdered my parents in front of me. He told me that he wanted me to burn alive so he set the house on fire, but the fire didn't spread fast enough for his liking so he gouged my eye out."

The memories that he thought he had buried came back to him and he couldn't make them stop. His mother screaming. The blood and smoke in the air. The terrifying moment when the man turned on him.

"I survived because the emergency services turned up as someone had seen the fire and that man ran away."

"Is that why you don't use your title?" Sebastian enquired. "Is it to avoid the attention of that person?"

"Yes. I was adopted by my aunt and we moved away from the area and I was homeschooled. I do no feel like I have the right to that title anyway."

He retreated into silence and waited for Sebastian to leave him alone. He didn't want to talk about his past with a sadistic bastard like him.

"That is tragic," Sebastian commented. "It won't keep me quiet about your habit though."

* * *

**My flatmate and I tried the washing machine out this week. It turned out there was no manual was provided so there was some guesswork. Fortunately 9h on the control panel does not mean 9 hours like we feared. It means 3 which is not very logical.**


	4. Chapter 4

An interesting point has been raised in the comments and reviews. Is Sebastian being an asshole to Ciel deliberately to help him out? I'm not going to answer that for now...

* * *

**Wrong Turning:**

**Chapter 4:**

Ciel's attempts to avoid Sebastian for the rest of the month were fairly successful. The awkward times he encountered him were nowhere as bad as he anticipated. Nothing was mentioned about his secret, his eye patch or his parents.

His sort of friendship with Alois had improved although his opinion on the blonds' fashion sense was unchanged. They had found a decent teashop in the vicinity of their accommodation that matched both their needs. Ciel considered it a shame that they couldn't go there as much as he wanted as Alois had less disposable income than him. He was only willing to spend so much time with Alois because he deterred Sebastian from approaching him.

Bardroy and Finny had less money to get drunk and go out to clubs as the month progressed so Ciel was able to sleep better. He had also got his first two assignments which he had already finished much to Alois' disbelief. The workload at university had never been one of his concerns from the beginning- he had only been worried about other people noticing his secret.

He also found that there was a reading week coming up for first years and he planned to use it to go back home. Whilst it was true that he was beginning to become accustomed to living in a shared flat and Sebastian was behaving, he still wouldn't turn down a chance to get away from it for a week. Alois was planning on staying to finish all his assignments.

His situation was beginning to improve until he woke up one morning with a runny rose and a pounding head. When he eventually got out of bed he found that his legs felt heavy and he realised that he had a cold. His aunt had warned him about contracting Fresher's Flue, a cold that could be caught during the first couple of weeks because your immune system was unaccustomed to the pathogens everyone else had. However he had been at university for almost a month.

Then he remembered that Finny had been blowing his nose noisily in the kitchen the previous day and had touched everything without washing his hands. Ciel had been horrified at the poor hygiene and had been about to disinfect everything after Finny had gone when Sebastian had walked in. Naturally he had come flustered and forgot to disinfect.

Now he was paying the price.

He got dressed with difficulty and stumbled to the kitchen to make tea. Everything was better with tea. He failed to notice that he had forgotten to arrange his hair to cover his right eye or that Sebastian was sitting on the sofa eating plain weetabix.

"Sexy bed head," was Sebastian's greeting.

Ciel felt too ill to bother replying and just grabbed the kettle instead. Sebastian seemed notice that there was something wrong with him as he got up and sauntered over to him to press his hand to Ciel's forehead. Ciel jerked away.

"Your temperature is too high. I think you're coming down with a cold."

"It's all Finny's fault," Ciel muttered.

"He has been very open with his sneezing," Sebastian agreed.

Ciel made tea whilst Sebastian dug through one of his cupboards.

"I brought some special tea with me in case I ended up living with unhygienic people. It's a type of green tea that is supposed to help your immune system."

He produced the box and Ciel read the back of it doubtfully. His aunt was always saying that he had a weak immune system. He wasn't going to accept anything from Sebastian though.

"I can make you some if you like. I haven't had a chance to try it," Sebastian suggested.

"I'll be fine without it," Ciel answered and picked up his normal cup of tea. "You can give it to Finny, he clearly needs it."

"Have fun sitting in lectures next week feeling like shit," Sebastian replied and put the box back.

For a moment Ciel was tempted until he remembered the information on the back of box and the things his aunt complained about when it was flu season.

"The only additional thing it contains is Vitamin C. I could just take Vitamin C tablets and it's a dubious claim in any case. Excess Vitamin C gives you diarrhoea anyway."

With that parting line he turned to go and Sebastian poked his back. He turned back to see that Sebastian was now sporting one of his more evil smiles. He hadn't seen one of those since fresher's week.

"You were right not to accept it; there would have been a price."

Ciel rolled his eye and ignored him. He just wanted to go back to bed.

"If you were wondering why I've been behaving for a while, it's so you would stop running away from me. It's no fun when you actively avoid me."

So he had been lulled into a false sense of security that Sebastian was no longer playing with him. Wonderful.

"Can we talk about this when I don't have a cold?"

Sebastian shrugged. "I haven't quite decided on my price for keeping your secret quiet yet. I have a few ideas."

"I can do your laundry," Ciel proposed hopefully. He would make all of his clothes shrink and Sebastian would never be able to fit his conceited head into one of his obnoxious hoodies again.

His flatmate snorted. "Your evil intentions towards my laundry are written all over your face."

"Who's been writing over whose face?" a sleepy voice asked from the doorway.

Ciel recognised the voice as being Finny's and was about to turn around to berate him for giving him a cold when Sebastian's hand reached out and rearranged his fringe so it was covering his eye patch. He had forgotten about his eye patch again. Evidently Sebastian was as committed to keeping that thing a secret as much as he was. He had kept him promise after all.

"How is your cold?" Sebastian asked him. "You're up early for someone who has one."

Finny chose that moment to emit an explosive sneeze which answered the question.

"I'm up early because I need to go out and get Lemsip."

Ciel saw an opportunity to get back at Sebastian.

"You don't have to go and buy Lemsip. Sebastian has a tea that will help your immune system."

The exhausted look in Finny's eyes was replaced by hopeful light.

"You do?"

"So you want to give him diarrhoea as revenge?" Sebastian whispered to Ciel. "That's cute."

His glare at the sadist was spoiled by him having to blow his nose mid glare.

"You should go back to bed, Ciel," Finny said. "This cold is terrible. I had to miss lectures yesterday. Just take some paracetemol and go back to sleep."

"I can carry you there and tuck you in," was Sebastian's input.

That elicited another glared and Ciel spun on his heel and left the kitchen. It was only when he got back to his room did he realise that he had left his tea behind. There was no way he was going to return to pick it up because he would get teased by Sebastian again. He didn't really need the tea if he was going to sleep.

He knocked back the paracetemol and fell asleep until late afternoon. He was woken up sharply by someone knocking on his door. He didn't bother opening his eye and rolled over. Whoever it was should give up and go away. The knocking continued and he could guess who it was. Three of his flatmates would have left him alone after their knocks weren't answered. Only one would persist.

Reluctantly he left the warmth of his bed and unlocked the door. As expected Sebastian was standing outside.

"What do you want?" he demanded.

Sebastian held out two small boxes. "I went out and bought you some things to help you get better faster. I wouldn't want you to disturb lectures with your heavy breathing and sneezes."

Ciel stared at him doubtfully before his dulled mind caught up. Sebastian wanted him to recover faster so he wouldn't miss lectures because he was fun to torture. What Sebastian was offering him was a box of strepsils and a Lemsip one.

He was too occupied on that to notice Sebastian's hand snaking towards his forehead until it touched his forehead.

"Your temperature is still too high. You should take what I've offered."

"Is there a price?"

Sebastian smirked widely. "No. I much prefer you without a cold when you look deliciously unhappy and pained. You just look ill at the moment."

Ciel replayed that conversation in his mind to make sure he had construed it properly. Sebastian had just openly admitted that he took pleasure in his pain. It was nothing he hadn't guessed, but to hear him say it out loud was another thing.

"You are such a sadist," he snapped.

Sebastian was unaffected by the insult. "No, I'm one hell of a sadist."

"I'll argue with you in the morning. Just leave me alone for now," he griped and closed the door on Sebastian.

Sebastian raised his eyebrows and returned to the kitchen where Ciel's teacup from the morning was still untouched. He picked it up to wash it and decided to examine it more closely first.

It was of good quality and he could tell that the swirling damask patterns on it had been hand painted on. He looked at the bottom to confirm his guess about it being fine bone china and found an inscription in pink paint there instead.

"To Ciel, love Lizzie," he read aloud.

Could she be a problem in his plan regarding Ciel?

He washed up the cup and placed it with Ciel's other cups. He would get the answer out of him in the morning along with half a dozen glares. He rather enjoyed riling up Ciel to see his glares.

He was clearly beneficial to Ciel's health though. He always observed Ciel's wrists whenever his sleeves slipped down when he made tea and there hadn't been a fresh mark on them for a month. It was clear that Ciel had stopped temporarily because of him.

* * *

**There is a new Tetley tea that is supposed to help the immune system and I checked it out because of the nature of my studies and the label was very amusing. You aren't allowed to put unsubstantiated claims on labels in this country and the link between drinking tea and improving your immune system was very tenuous. The substantiated claim was that Vitamin C is essential to the normal function of the immune system which is true, but taking extra won't really help that much. The more you take in, the less efficient your body is at absorbing it and if you take too much you will get diarrhoea.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Wrong Turning:**

**Chapter 5:**

After that afternoon Ciel returned to his routine of avoiding Sebastian where possible. It proved to be difficult as they lived together and they did the same subject. Sebastian had stopped lulling him into a false sense of security as well. That meant light remarks about secrets and prices whenever he encountered him.

The teenager knew that he had a couple of days before he had some reprieve in the form of a reading week. He had booked his train ticket and was going to take the books he had finished reading home and swap them for unread ones. He had heard from Lizzie that her reading week was set for the same week and she wanted to meet up. They just needed to confirm where.

After dinner he called her to make arrangements. She picked up after a few rings and all he could hear was loud music until she spoke much louder.

“Ciel!”

He held the phone away from his ear. “Are you at a club?” he asked doubtfully.

It was only eight in the evening. That was too early to be at a club.

“My flatmates are having a party,” she shouted down the phone. “I’ll go to my bathroom.”

He stayed silent as he heard rustling noises and the music fading away.

“Can you hear me properly now?” she asked in a more tolerable tone.

“Yes. Are you into partying now?” he asked curiously. He hadn’t spoken to her many times since they had both moved to university.

“No,” she sounded insulted. “I was just there to discreetly remove my crockery. You don’t want to know what happened to it last time. I had to put it all in disinfectant after _that_ party.”

Ciel had a feeling he could guess correctly what had happened. He felt glad that Bardroy and Finny had yet to host a party in their flat.

“That sounds disgusting. Where do you want to meet in reading week?”

They spent several minutes discussing potential places and days. Once they had agreed the conversation moved back to university matters.

“It’s good that the work is easy for you,” she paused. “Aunt Ann wants me to talk about something with you. It’s about a conversation you had about a month ago. She thought you would be more open with me.”

The conversation she was referring to had to be the one about him wanting to ditch a flatmate. He had thought it mysterious that his aunt had never broached the subject again. Now he knew why she had kept quiet.

“I know which one you are talking about,” he sighed.

“Has the problem been resolved yet?” she asked.

“No, it had become even worse,” he answered.

There was a brief silence between them. He could tell that she was unsure about what the source of the problem was. He needed to let it out to someone.

“Can you tell me? I won’t tell Aunt Ann...”

His little habit was something he was never going to tell her about, but he would be able to tell her about something else.

“Someone in my flat knows about Mum and Dad’s murders and my eye. He keeps hounding me about it and taking pleasure in my pain.”

“Sounds like a bastard,” Lizzie growled. “Do I need to come to your halls and deal with him for you?”

He imagined Lizzie in one of her favourite pink fluffy dresses kicking the door down and challenging Sebastian to a duel. Whilst he would like to see that happen, he didn’t want her to get involved with Sebastian.

“Thank you. However I do not want you anywhere near Sebastian,” he replied.

Her reaction was something he could have never predicted.

“...Is his surname Michaelis?”

She knew who he was?

“How did you know?”

Lizzie was too flustered to reply to his question. “Stay away from him as much as you can. I will meet with you as soon as possible.”

“Why can’t you tell me?” he demanded.

“Is he next door to you?”

“Yes. Does that affect anything?” he asked.

“I definitely can’t explain now. If he is also on your course, skip lectures.”

If Lizzie was even telling him to miss lectures it had to be a serious matter. Was Sebastian more dangerous than he had thought?”

* * *

 

Ciel navigated his way through the teashop Lizzie had told him to come to. He had just come from his house where he had dumped his luggage and hinted to his aunt about the dirty laundry in his bag. After entering he spotted her sitting by herself at a table by the wall.

Her blonde hair was parted into two bunches and tied off with white ribbons and there was an oversized matching white bow in her hair. As he approached her he saw that her earring were pink rabbits. He reflected that she had changed since starting university; the bow in her hair was smaller than usual and she was wearing less pink.

He pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down. In front of her were two cups. One was laden with chocolate sprinkled cream and the other looked to be tea. She pushed the second one towards him.

“I already ordered for you. Do you still like Darjeeling?”

Ciel took a sip. “Why should my taste have changed?”

“Going to university does change you.”

“Is that why your bow is smaller?” he teased.

She patted the large bow on top of her head. “My bigger ones get knocked off my head in the corridor and lecturer kept picking on me to answer questions because I stick out too much when I wear bigger ones.”

Now that the formalities were over with Ciel got straight to the point.

“What did you want to tell me?”

“I could not tell you the other day because if you stick your ear to the wall you can hear everything going on in the room next to you. If he is close by he would be able to hear.”

Ciel had yet to discover that and felt thoroughly creeped out at the thought of Sebastian listening at the wall.

“I had no idea you could do that. What did Sebastian do?”

Instead of answering properly Lizzie produced her phone and showed him a social networking profile of a girl with large round lens glasses and red hair. Her name was written below.

“Mey-Rin,” he read aloud, unsure as to what Lizzie was getting at.

“She is friends with one of my flatmates and she went to Sixth Form with Sebastian. I heard from my flatmate about what happened to her.”

“Is it major?” Ciel asked tentatively. Had she been like him and Sebastian had tormented her?

“She attempted to commit suicide,” she informed him.

“W-What?” Ciel stuttered. The root of the cause had to have been Sebastian.

“She had been a little depressed since starting Sixth Form and it was around the time of coursework deadlines so her actions seemed to have a straightforward explanation.”

“Seemed?”

Lizzie nodded. “When she returned, she told everyone that Sebastian had told her to kill herself.”

Was Sebastian intent on making him commit suicide too? The sadist had certainly been happy to observe that he cut himself.

“Fortunately for her she was discovered and resuscitated before it was too late. Apparently Sebastian told her to do it and helped her make the noose.”

Ciel’s head began to hurt and his wrists felt like they were stinging although he hadn’t cut them for a month. Was the mysterious price Sebastian kept referencing going to be his death? He couldn’t be absolutely sure, but he suspected it was the truth. Sebastian’s personality fitted his theory.

A confrontation was needed. However he first needed to find out some more information.

“Did he receive any punishment? He nearly caused someone’s death.”

Lizzie sighed. “No, he didn’t. It was rumoured that his parents were filthy rich and paid off the Police to stop them from investigating. There was no internal punishment because the sixth form didn’t want to provoke his parents.”

That sounded likely. Anyone else without good connections would have ended up in custody. As the son of rich parents albeit dead parents, he knew where money could get you. It couldn’t do things like bring back the dead or obtain happiness, but it could get you out of trouble with the law and pay people to get revenge for you.

“Thank you for telling me,” he said. If he hadn’t found out he would have remained unaware of exactly how dangerous Sebastian could be.

“I just want you to stay safe. You could be his next target. I don’t know how he started on Mey-Rin to get her to commit suicide, but he must be very good at manipulating people.”

That had been clear from their previous interactions. Sebastian had mentioned him having a secret in front of Alois to aggravate him into a confrontation and had let him think he had escaped being hounded for a while.

“I’ll be fine, Lizzie. If I ignore him, he will eventually leave me alone.”

That was what he had to tell her. Inside he was very fearful. If he started ignoring him too much, Sebastian would start openly making references about his secret again and could let it slip if it went on for too long. If he agreed to come to an agreement with Sebastian, he would probably end up being induced to commit suicide.

There was no way out.

* * *

 

**I apologise for the long gap between this update and the one before. I was busy with an assignment and then I went to London with Comic Con with a friend’s university which took a very long time to get to. I saw lots of Kuroshitsuji fans. :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Wrong Turning:**

**Chapter 6:**

It was evening when Ciel returned home. One the walk back he had been endlessly thinking about what Lizzie had told him. It was likely that the story she had told him was true. Considering all the references he had made about his habit, he was certainly interested in using it against him.

"What do you want for dinner?" his aunt asked him when he stalked through entryway.

"I don't feel well, I won't have anything," he said hastily and carried on up the stairs to his bedroom.

Once he got there, he pulled up his sleeves to check what his wrists looked like. He now only had scars instead of cuts as he had been too afraid to cut with Sebastian around.

If he stopped completely, would Sebastian leave him alone?

That wasn't likely. Sebastian still knew about his past and could use it against him in some way. There was no escape.

All he could do was verify that Sebastian had really persuaded a girl to commit suicide. The only way to find out was to ask him. If he was lucky it would unnerve Sebastian and the odds might turn in his favour.

His aunt knocked on the door an hour later. By now he was sitting up in bed in his pyjamas reading a book.

"You can come in."

She came in and sat down on the edge of his bed.

"You seem to be in a strange mood," she observed.

Ciel looked up from his book and forced a smile. "I'm fine. I just ate too much cake whilst I was out with Lizzie."

That was true. After seeing how shaken he was, Lizzie had tried to console him by buying him large amounts of cake. Admittedly it had distracted him from the problem at hand for a short time. He had remembered everything once they had parted.

"I can give you something for that," she assured him.

She left the room and swiftly returned with the medicine box that Ciel hadn't seen for years. Angelina gave him an indigestion tablet.

"I hope you have been eating more than cake whilst you have been away," she said and shot him a suspicious glance.

"Aunt Ann, of course I don't just eat cake," Ciel answered defensively.

Angelina shrugged. "It's your decision- you are an adult and don't live with me anymore. If your diet starts to affect your health, change it."

Ciel nodded and waited to see if she would continue talking about his health. He surreptitiously glanced down to check the sleeves of his pyjamas were covering his wrists. He always felt that he had to check even if he had pulled them down a few minutes before. Now that he had slipped up and Sebastian had noticed, he made sure to check even more frequently.

"Has anyone noticed yet?" his aunt asked suddenly.

Ciel flinched. "Noticed what?"

Instead of answering she pushed his fringe back to reveal his eyepatch. Ciel breathed a sigh of relief.. She wasn't referring to his habit.

"No," he lied. "When it's windy I wear a hoodie and pull the hood down so no one can see it."

Angelina adjusted his hair to cover the eyepatch again.

"I'm sure no one would hate you if you stopped hiding it. You're in a place where people are more likely to accept things like that."

Ciel could see what she meant. At university he had noticed the range of societies available for all sorts of interests and types of people. He was also no longer afraid that people would pity him because of it- he had bigger problems to deal with.

"Perhaps. I'm not ready to stop hiding it yet though."

His aunt patted his head softly.

"That's fine," she said and closed the subject. "Is there anything you want to do this week? You said you didn't have any assignments to do."

* * *

 

A week later Ciel had made up his mind what to do. He was going to directly confront Sebastian and demand to know his intentions. If Sebastian avoided answering by mentioning vague comments about contracts, he would have to try to be more assertive.

The weather in the city that he attended university in was foul when he returned. The sky was dark with rain clouds and the rain showed no signs of stopping. He ended up being caught in the rain walking back from the train station and was drenched when he finally arrived at his flat.

Ciel hung up his sopping wet coat to dry and went in search of Sebastian. There were noises coming from the kitchen so he had a look inside. Like it had been on his first day, Bardroy, Finny and Will were sitting around the worktop.

"You're back!" Finny exclaimed when he noticed him standing in the doorway.

"It's just Sebastian to come back now," Bardroy provided the answer to the question Ciel wanted answered.

"When did he go?" he asked.

"Halfway through the week," Will informed him. "I believe he went home like you."

"I stayed to finish my assignment," Finny complained. "Bardroy went home so I only had Will for company and all he ever did was revise for his exam."

Will looked annoyed. "You mean all you ever did was interrupt my revision."

Ciel was about to leave when he realised that he could find out about Sebastian by talking to them. He made himself a cup of tea and sat down. He wasn't good at socialising so directing the conversation was going to be challenging.

"Finny, did you go to sixth form or college?" he asked casually.

"Sixth Form- I was too lazy to go somewhere further away," the blond replied with a smile.

"I travelled to a college that was two hours away from the village I lived in," Will contributed.

"My school didn't have a sixth form so I ended up going to a sixth form at another school," Bardroy added.

It was Finny that gave the information Ciel had been looking for.

"Sebastian said the same thing too. He went to a sixth form where he didn't know anyone as he didn't attend the school."

That backed up Lizzie's story. He decided to stay to see if Finny would say anything else useful.

"How did you find that out?" Bardroy asked him.

"I bet Finnian pestered him so much that he was forced to give an answer," Will suggested. "What else did you get out of him?"

"Nothing much. His parents are rich- he didn't actually qualify for the maintenance loan."

Ciel found himself being grateful for Finny's nosiness for once. He didn't have a maintenance loan either. His aunt had claimed that due to her occupation he would only get a small amount and she paid the cost herself and contributed to the university fees so he wouldn't have to face student debts later in life.

"Lucky bastard," Bardroy muttered. "I'm on pasta for the rest of the term."

"He likes tea as much as Ciel does and he always washes his dishes," Finny ticked the points of on his fingers. "He seems to like Ciel the best out of all of us."

Everyone turned to look at Ciel who flinched.

"...Is he gay then?" Bardroy asked hesitantly. "What is your evidence?"

Finny looked thoughtful. "If he comes in here when Ciel isn't he always asks if anyone has seen him. I heard him say his name when he was talking to someone on the phone once."

Sebastian probably wanted to know where he was so he could torment him in some way. The last part might not meant anything either. He had told his aunt the names of all his flatmates at some point and pinpointed the ones that had the poorest standard of hygiene.

To someone like Finny it would seem like Sebastian was interested in him romantically.

"That does not mean a thing," Will scoffed. "They are on the same course- he was probably looking for him to ask him something about an assignment."

Ciel breathed a sigh of relief. Will had stopped that idea before it had developed too much. If Finny tried to match them together, the effect would be disastrous.

The person he had been waiting for arrived in the evening. Ciel heard the front door unlock and opened his door a crack to see if it was really Sebastian.

A tall dark haired figure dressed in a black trench coat walked past his door and stopped to unlock the room next to his. Ciel stepped out his room and grabbed Sebastian's arm.

"We need to talk."

Sebastian froze for a second and then smiled at him.

"If you like. Come in."

Ciel followed him into his room. He took a peek into the bathroom to see if all the cat themed items were still there. The only difference was the lack of beauty products that had been lined up against the wall.

"You have got rid of your hair products," he said.

Sebastian looked amused. "I decided my hair is perfect as it is without needing conditioner."

"You're so vain," Ciel mumbled.

Sebastian placed his bag down on his desk and turned to face him.

"Now that was have agreed on my perfect hair, what do you really want to talk to me about."

Ciel took a deep breath. "Do you know anyone named Mey-Rin?"

Sebastian's eyes narrowed. "I believe there was someone with that name at my sixth form."

The next question was not easy to ask. "Did you make her kill herself?"

Sebastian's mouth grew into a smirk and he suddenly looked demonic.

"Yes, I did."

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Wrong Turning:**

**Chapter 7:**

Ciel had expected a denial not a smirk. How could someone admit that so easily and lightly? He slowly backed away so he could escape Sebastian's room.

The sadist approached him. "Are you really leaving so soon? You don't want to stay and hear the reason why?"

Ciel hesitated. Something had been bothering him about it; he hadn't been able to deduce how Sebastian had enough power over Mey-Rin to get her to attempt suicide.

"I would like to know why."

Sebastian patted a space on his bed. Predictably the duvet had black cats all over it. Ciel sat down cautiously on it whilst Sebastian stayed standing.

"Mey-Rin and I had a contract between us," Sebastian said.

That sounded familiar. Sebastian had been making remarks and payments and prices for a while.

"What were the exact terms?"

"I had to be her boyfriend for a month. I played the part for that time. Then her payment was due. I still wonder if she would have still agreed to the contract if she had known my terms from the start," Sebastian said so casually that Ciel could have believed they were talking about something as commonplace as the weather.

"Have you made contracts with anyone else?" he questioned.

"Yes, but Mey-Rin's was the first on such a scale. To keep out of trouble, I haven't made any contracts since hers. I was ostracised in sixth form once the truth came out."

That remark garnered a glare from Ciel. He was finding Sebastian's blasé attitude about nearly causing someone's death extremely annoying. He did have another question he wanted the answer to, but he also didn't want to know what Sebastian's reply would be.

"...Are you intending on making a contract with me at some point?"

A flicker of uncertainty passed across Sebastian's face.

"There's no real price I can think of, neither do I have anything to offer in return. You already harm yourself so getting you to commit suicide wouldn't be that difficult. You have clearly already decided to give up on life."

Ciel considered it. The only things keeping him going were not wanting to disappoint his aunt and his other family and wanting to get revenge on the person that had killed his parents and gouged his eye out.

It appeared that Sebastian had come up with a similar idea.

"I suppose you want revenge on the person that ruined your life."

"I don't think you would be able to manage that," Ciel griped.

The sadist stroked his chin and looked even more smug that he usually did.

"My family are well off and are in the business world. You did say that the perpetrator was a business rival. I can use their resources to find that person," Sebastian suggested.

That sounded very tempting to Ciel. Finally he could get his revenge. He didn't completely believe that Sebastian would succeed in finding the person. However it was his current best hope and he was willing to clutch at any straw even if it was the thinnest spider's thread.

There was a minor hitch that made him hesitate to a make a proper decision.

"What would be the price for you doing this?"

Sebastian was silent as if he was in deep though. "I haven't decided yet. I have never made a contract like this before so it needs a special price."

Special was fine for Ciel as long as it didn't mean his death or Sebastian tormenting him.

"I will give you a week to decide if you really want to make a contract. Just remember that you are very unlikely to obtain revenge without my help," the sadist reminded him.

Ciel nodded and left Sebastian's room to return to his own. Unfortunately the sadist had been right about him being unlikely to track down the perpetrator and kill them. He hadn't seriously considered it as an option since he was a child.

Was he willing to make a contract with a known sadist to fulfil that desire? He was unsure as he really didn't know what Sebastian wanted in return.

His hand reached up to touch his eyepatch. It wasn't only the Phantomhive name and his parents that had been sullied. He had nearly died that had he had lost an eye. He would also be taking revenge for himself.

All night he tossed and turned, debating the merits and costs of agreeing to a contract with Sebastian. In the end he fell into a light sleep and was woken by the slightest noise around him. He had a nine o'clock lecture so he got up early in the morning. Naturally as Sebastian also had that lecture, he encountered him in the kitchen.

"Sleepless night?" Sebastian commented and gestured to the dark shadow beneath his visible eye.

"Shut up," Ciel groaned and grabbed the kettle. "It's bad enough to wake up early, it's another thing to see your annoying face."

Sebastian pouted. "You're mean when you're sleep deprived. Were you up all night thinking of me?"

Ciel ignored him and focused on waiting for the kettle to boil. He already had his teacup and teabag ready. When the kettle boiled he went to pick it up and found that Sebastian already had it.

"I'll make your tea. You will be in a better mood after you have tried it. You won't want to call my face annoying after this," Sebastian winked.

The teenage Earl watched doubtfully as Sebastian poured the water into his teacup and added the milk and a teaspoon of sugar. He handed it to Ciel when he had finished. Ciel took a tentative sip and stared down at the tea. It was made with his usual teabag, water and milk. How did it taste so different?

Sebastian beamed at him. "I knew you would like it. If you agree to the contract, I can make you a cup every day."

Ciel finished off the rest of the cup. "It would have to be four times a day."

"It's a deal."

* * *

 

As per the usual routine he met up with Alois in the entrance of their block so they could walk to the university together.

"Did you have fun at home whilst I was here toiling away on the assignments?" Alois asked.

"I spent time with my aunt and cousin and ate lots of cake. I got through a fair number of books too."

"Stop making me jealous," Alois moaned. "I see Sebastian coming, let's go."

They usually tried to avoid walking to campus with Sebastian as it made Ciel uncomfortable. Thankfully Alois had never asked him why and had helped him avoid Sebastian. He checked that Sebastian wasn't in the vicinity before he asked an important question.

"Alois, say you had been wronged in the past and you had an opportunity to take revenge, but the revenge had a price attached to it, would you still take that opportunity?"

The blond looked surprised by the suddenness of the question.

"It depends on how the person had been wronged and what the price was," he answered.

"Say their family had been killed and their life had been ruined."

"Is the price guilt?" Alois questioned. "Even if it was revenge, the person would have a conscience and feel guilt afterwards unless their whole life revolved around taking revenge."

Ciel found Alois' perspective interesting. Would he feel guilty after taking his revenge? Could that be the price for Sebastian's help? Sebastian might think that it would torment him for the rest of his life.

It seemed to be implausible. That wouldn't be enough of a price for the sadist.

He turned the subject to their assignment before Alois could enquire into his reasons for asking.

* * *

 

The week passed by very quickly for Ciel. He was still undecided when he knocked on Sebastian's door in the evening. Sebastian opened the door with a smile and he entered the room.

"Have you made a decision yet?"

Ciel opened his mouth to speak and closed it again. He was still conflicted. Tea and revenge sounded nice now, but what was he going to have to pay for it?

"I will give you some hints about the price if you like, but only after you have signed first."

"Signed?"

His flatmate picked up a piece of paper that was lying on his desk. Ciel eyed it carefully. It was neatly written in an elegant cursive and had a line for him to sign on.

"You need to sign on the blank line if you want to make the contract," Sebastian pointed helpfully.

It was a quick reading. It set out Sebastian agreeing to help him track down the unknown person that that had killed his parents and assist him in obtaining revenge, whatever that revenge may be. The line about making him tea four times a day was also there.

"...Demand a price that will be collected at the end of the contract. Hints may be given about the price, however the actual price will remain secret until the end," he read aloud.

He read it again and made his decision.

"I agree to making the contract."


	8. Chapter 8

**Wrong Turning:**

**Chapter 8** :

Sebastian held out a pen and Ciel looked at him carefully to observe his reaction. The sadist looked quietly triumphant. Ciel signed his name and handed it back.

"Thank you for co operating," Sebastian said. "Would you like to have a hint now?"

"Yes."

Sebastian leaned closer to him. "It's something that you can only give me once."

Ciel couldn't understand the hint. "How the hell is that a hint?"

Instead of answering Sebastian winked at him and opened the door.

"Why don't you go to bed and spend all night thinking of me again?"

Unsurprisingly Ciel slammed the door behind him. He didn't understand the hint. He should have known better than to expect Sebastian to give him a clear answer. The sadist was probably going to have fun watching him trying to work out what the hint was. He vowed not to lose sleep over it.

* * *

 

"Wow, did you get any sleep last night?" was Alois' greeting the next day.

All night he had been staring at his ceiling trying to work out what something that could only be given once was. He hadn't been very successful.

"Not really," Ciel sighed. "I was trying to work out the answer to a riddle."

Alois gave him a strange look. "You mustn't have much to do if you are trying to solve riddles. Did you solve it in the end?"

Ciel shook his head and decided he had nothing to lose by asking Alois.

"The riddle is about something that can only be given one."

His friend nudged his arm. "That's easy; there are lots of answers. Something that can only be given once is a first."

Ciel understood now. He had never been particularly good at riddles and in his opinion Sebastian had given him a riddle worthy hint.

"So it could be a first born child," Alois continued on.

Ciel swallowed a laugh. He couldn't imagine Sebastian asking for his first born child.

"First kiss is also an option," the blond added. "Have you had yours yet?"

Fortunately for Ciel, Alois' attention was diverted by spotting someone else in booty shorts and he was saved from answering in the negative. If Alois heard that, he would probably start trying to hook him up with people or take him out clubbing,

During the break in the middle of a double lecture someone tapped Ciel on the back. He turned and realised Sebastian had been sitting right behind him all morning.

"Have you worked out what the hint means yet?" he whispered.

"No!" Ciel snapped back.

Something had flicked through his mind when Alois mentioned firsts and he refused to think about it any further.

Sebastian looked smug. "I knew you would never get a subtle hint like that. I'll give you another one later."

* * *

 

A steaming teacup was placed adroitly in front of him. Sebastian was proving to be faithful to the contract. It was Ciel's third cup of tea that day and he was glad that the clause had been added into the contract.

"Do you want the next hint now?"

Ciel was about to answer when his phone buzzed. He checked who was calling to find it was his aunt. He knew he couldn't take the call in front of Sebastian so he hurriedly returned to his room.

"Hello?"

Her response was confusing. "Can you come down and let me in?"

That answer made sense in only one context. "...Are you outside my block?"

"Yes. Now hurry up and let me in. I'm getting strange looks from the security guard."

Ciel lurched into action. He threw the collection of sweets he had brought earlier into a drawer and tidied up any sweet wrappers that were lying around. Then he ran down four flights of stairs to let her in.

"You were slow, you clearly aren't getting enough exercise," she noted. "Or are you hiding something you didn't want me to see?"

"My stamina has improved," Ciel protested. "...Why are you here?"

She was carrying a red overnight bag in one hand and what looked to be a sleeping bag in the other. He could guess what she was going to use them for.

"I came to see my favourite nephew of course," she said and patted him on the head.

"You saw me last week," Ciel retorted.

Angelina waved that concern away. "I missed you so much I came here."

Her nephew eyed the sleeping bag. "Are you staying the night?"

She gestured to the sleeping bag. "I am. The sleeping bag is for you."

"I'm sleeping on the floor?"

Angeline smiled. "You are sleeping on the floor, but not with me. You can share your friend's room. I'm not sleeping in the same room as a teenage boy."

Her nephew stared at her in surprise. "I have to share with Alois? I thought you came here to see me, not kick me out of my room."

It was strange that she had come in the first place and it was even stranger that she wanted to spend a night in student accommodation instead of somewhere quieter and pleasanter like a hotel.

"I'll make it up to you. I'll take you out to dinner and breakfast tomorrow. I will even buy you some cake."

Ciel perked up. "That would be nice. I will let Alois now. He will probably agree to use the sleeping bag if I help him with the assignments."

With that sorted he led her to his room so she could unpack. She nodded approvingly at all of his cleaning products and swiped her finger along his bookshelf.

"You are up to date with cleaning and it doesn't smell like you've been doing drugs in here.

"Aunt Ann!"

It was true that there was drug use at his accommodation; the entranceway of his block sometimes smelled of weed. The more surprising thing was that students were managing to afford it.

"You missed a sweet wrapper," she pointed at the one he had accidentally left behind. "Do I want to see your kitchen?"

Ciel thought of the stack of dirty dishes left behind by Bardroy and Finny and the collection of alcohol bottles lining the windowsill. There were also the mystery stains and crumbs all over the worktops. He and Will refused to clean anything that wasn't their mess so the kitchen wasn't in a clean state.

"Not really."

"Am I allowed to meet your flatmates? Or do you want me to stay in here?"

Something told Ciel that it wouldn't be a good idea for his aunt to ever meet Sebastian so he hastily thought of a way to keep her away from everyone.

"Some of my flatmates walk around half naked and don't wash often. Two of them are drunk most of the time too. It's to your benefit to stay away."

As he expected, that convinced his aunt to agree not to go looking for his flatmates. He went off to explain the arrangements with Alois and then they went out for dinner.

* * *

 

Sebastian looked in the kitchen and found Will in there washing his dishes.

"Have you seen Ciel this evening?" he asked.

Will shook his head and drained the water. "I believe he left the flat two hours ago."

Will's room was next to the front door so he was the best person to ask about comings and goings in the flat. Will nodded at him and left the kitchen.

Sebastian made a cup of tea and stood outside Ciel's door. He could hear movement so he assumed that Ciel had come back whilst he had been in the kitchen. He knocked on the door.

"I have your tea," he called out.

The door opened and instead of seeing a short blue grey haired boy, he was face to face with a red haired woman with matching clothes and lipstick.

"You aren't Ciel," he stated the obvious.

She looked him up and down appraisingly. "You are wearing clothes and you smell clean."

"...Thank you," he replied doubtfully. "Where is Ciel?"

"Did he turn you into his tea slave?" she questioned.

It didn't escape his attention that she had avoided the question which confirmed that Ciel wasn't anywhere in the flat.

"Something like that. If Ciel isn't here, I'll just go."

What she said next made him swiftly turn back.

"Do you know his secret?"

"Which one?"

She tapped her chin. "So you know more than one. That's interesting."

He began to feel dangerous vibes emanating from her.

"I just happened to see his eye patch- he hadn't brushed his hair. I don't know anything else."

She looked unconvinced. "My nephew had hinted about problems with a certain flatmate. I couldn't get anything out of him, but I have my suspicions. You know that he self harms, don't you?"

His eyes snapped to meet her eyes which were hooded with suspicion. Now he regretted not leaving when he had the chance. Her attitude suggested it would be futile to lie about seeing that. His reaction had already shown that he knew about it.

"I spotted his wrists one day and realised. He noticed that I had seen and wasn't too happy about it. There isn't anything else to it."

She remained silent and he waited for her to reply.

"I am going to give you a chance. He hasn't done anything since he started living here. If he gets worse later on because of you- I will take action against you."

"I won't do anything," he lied, keen to end the conversation and get away from her.

"Duly noted. I will be keeping an eye out."

"Good night, Madam Red," Sebastian said and turned away to leave for the final time.

She stared after him silently and watched him enter his own room and lock the door behind him.

"He looks like a sadistic player," she muttered. "He is dead if he does anything to Ciel."

 

 

 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Wrong Turning:**

**Chapter 9:**

Ciel had yet another night of poor sleep. It turned out that Alois' flatmates were hosting predrinks and all he could hear until half eleven was a hideous cacophony of screaming and shouting. When it all quietened down, it became apparent that he was sharing a room with a snorer.

He was in a slightly better mood at breakfast where he was more occupied with pouring chocolate sauce over his pancakes. His aunt looked as if she had slept even less than he had. Her jaw was tense and she was already on a second cup of coffee.

"Did you find it too noisy in my flat?" he asked.

"It sounded like there was a party going on outside the window," she groaned. "Was it a student night in the city centre?"

Student nights meant a reduced price for entry in nightclubs so there was an influx of parties and drinking on that day.

"Yes, it was. At least you weren't sharing with someone who was snoring."

"I think I caught a glimpse of one of your flatmates last night. He was tall with fairly long black hair," she said suddenly.

Ciel tried to look as calm as possible.

"That must be Sebastian," he replied. "...You didn't talk to him, did you?"

"How much chocolate sauce is on there? There is more chocolate than pancake," she observed. "Do you want the chocolate waffles next as a treat?"

The offer of more chocolate covered sweet treats distracted Ciel from noticing that she had avoided the question.

"I need to leave soon. I have a shift this evening and I should get a little sleep first,” she told him once he had finished eating.

“You’re leaving already?” he asked in surprise.

She still hadn’t told him what she had come for. It was unlikely it had simply because she missed him.

“Ciel, if you ever want to quit university at any time, I won’t tell you off and you can come back to live with me. I won’t even ask you why.”

“Isn’t that the opposite of what you told me when you made me come here?”

“I know. Just be aware that you have that option available.”

 

* * *

 

Ciel watched her drive away and sighed. It had been good to have a distraction from everything that had been going on with Sebastian even if it meant being kicked out of his room for a night and she had been acting strangely. He found Sebastian waiting for him in the kitchen.

"You missed your fourth cup of tea yesterday. Where did you go?" Sebastian questioned.

"You are not my mother- you don't have to constantly know where I am," Ciel retorted. Sebastian was beginning to feel like a stalker instead of just his sadistic flatmate.

Sebastian's reply was a harsh blow. "Your mother is dead; I'm the one helping you get revenge on the person that killed her."

Ciel flushed angrily. "That doesn't mean you have to stalk me!"

The sadist stared at him silently before standing up and moving towards the kettle.

"Perhaps I was a little harsh. I will make you some tea."

Ciel's eye shot daggers at his back. Working with Sebastian was going to be hard if he was always that irritating. Sebastian brought his tea over when he was finished.

"I have a suggestion; we could try to get along. It won't be a pleasant experience for either of us if we constantly disagree," he proposed.

"Fine," Ciel said. "When are we actually going to start looking for _that_ person?"

Sebastian pulled out his phone and brought up their university timetable.

"The seminar on Friday has been cancelled so we have three free days. We have already handed in our assignments so there is no reason why we can't start then."

Ciel had an important question to ask.

"How exactly are you planning on finding the person?"

Sebastian looked him in the eye. "Do you remember what that person looked like?"

Ciel averted his gaze and looked down at a coffee stain on the floor instead. "I do."

"That will make the process faster. At home my father has a database of all UK based businesses along with information like share prices and position on the stock market. What did Funtom actually do?"

"Manufacture toys."

Sebastian looked smug. "My father is in the same line and he had even more information about companies similar to his. His toy company database even has information about the CEOs including photos."

"Very meticulous," Ciel observed. He couldn't remember his father being that obsessive about rival businesses, but it was likely to be a more competitive market now.

"My house is about two hours away from here," Sebastian moved back to the original subject.

Ciel's journey back home had involved a three hour train journey with a train change halfway through. He had not particularly enjoyed the experience and was not keen to repeat it too soon.

"How are we going to get there?"

Sebastian produced a set of keys from his pocket. "I'll drive."

Being in a car with Sebastian was slightly better than having to sit next to him on a train. Then the penny dropped.

"Why do you walk to campus if you can just drive there?"

Usually he could spot Sebastian walking a few metres behind or in front him and Alois. If Sebastian ever caught him glaring at him he would wink back which got on his nerves.

Sebastian shrugged. "It's healthier to walk and the parking at campus in an abomination."

Ciel scowled at him and Sebastian laughed.

"You look cute when you do that."

Ciel twisted his mouth into an even sourer expression and that only made Sebastian laugh harder.

"Sebastian!" he exclaimed angrily.

The sadist stopped laughing and patted him on the head.

"Sorry, Ciel. Another cup of tea?"

The teenager shook his head. "It's too soon. Can you give me a hint about the price now?"

Sebastian smirked at him. "I can. Close your eye."

Ciel hesitated for a moment. He didn't trust Sebastian yet. Closing his eye meant he couldn't see what Sebastian was going to do. He thought of taking revenge and managed to close his eye.

He heard Sebastian's shirt rustle as he moved closer. A hand took hold of his chin and he flinched. What was Sebastian doing? All thoughts flew out his mind when he felt a pair of lips touch his.

His eye snapped open and he jerked away from the sadist.

"What was that for?" he demanded. Perhaps he had misunderstood Sebastian. He wasn't just a sadist; he was a perverted sadist.

 He glanced at the closed kitchen door worriedly. Since the kitchen was a communal area, anyone could have walked in and seen that. If it had been Finny, it would have been misinterpreted as a romantic moment.

Sebastian smiled at him. "Was that your first kiss?"

"..Yes," Ciel admitted reluctantly.

"That explains the hint. You can only give your first kiss once. Think of other things that are firsts."

"That's what Alois said," he said without thinking.

His flatmate loomed closer.

"Have you told Trancy about the contract?"

"No. I merely asked him if he could understand the hint."

Sebastian's annoyed expression cleared. "I see. I can give you an additional hint. In retrospect, you're too innocent to understand the first one."

That line sparked off a chain of thought that helped Ciel finally understand. Innocence, firsts... He no longer had a first kiss to give, what was less innocent than a first kiss?

Then he got it.

He shook his head in disbelief. That couldn't be it. He needed another hint to make sure he had guessed right.

"What is the second hint?"

"It will be an enjoyable experience, but it might be painful for you at first."

The hint confirmed Ciel's suspicions.

"You pervert!"

Sebastian winked. "No, I am one hell of a pervert."

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Wrong Turning:**

**Chapter 10:**

Following that conversation Ciel stormed out and slammed his door behind him. He had a feeling he was in way over his head. Perhaps it would have been better for him to take Lizzie up on her offer to deal with Sebastian for him.

No, he had made the contract knowing that the price was a secret and that he was contracted with a person that liked seeing him suffer. He would have to take the consequences.

However he had no idea Sebastian was interested in him in _that_ way.

He began to wish that he had never signed the contract. He could have renegotiated with the pervert. Sebastian had certainly been willing enough to make the contract. He should have said that he wouldn’t sign until Sebastian told him the price.

The perverted price could be revenge on him for saying that Sebastian’s face was annoying. What had he got himself into?

Revenge didn’t sound appealing if that was the price. He still had a lifeline in the form of Aunt Ann. She had said he could come home and leave university if he really wanted.

However that was mean he had run away. He had too much pride to do that.

What would his father have done? From what he remembered of him, his father would gain control over Sebastian before the price was due to be paid and manipulate him to his own ends.

Could he do that?

Certainly Sebastian had an interest in him and in more ways than he had thought. He could start using that to manipulate him. He wasn’t sure how he could yet, but it was likely that it would be quite a long time before the price was due.

* * *

 

The next time Ciel encountered Sebastian was at dinnertime. The sadist was reduced to teasing him with eyebrow wriggles and winks due to the presence of Will and Finny.

Unluckily for Ciel, Finny noticed one of the winks and started nudging an un-amused Will who looked up at the right time to catch Sebastian in the act.

“Sebastian, do you have something in your eye?” he enquired. “You keep blinking strangely.”

Ciel snorted. There was a chance that Sebastian might stop teasing him in front of other people now due to being caught.

“Thank you for your concern. I think I have an eyelash stuck. It happens constantly because I have such long eyelashes.”

“I’ll help you out,” Finny volunteered and went up to Sebastian.

Finny reached out his finger at the same time Sebastian moved his head and ended up poking him in the eye. Sebastian winced and covered his eye protectively.

“I think you just made the problem worse,” Will commented. “Do you want the eyewash from my first aid kit?”

“I’m going to sort it out in my bathroom,” Sebastian said and hurriedly left, still covering his eye with his hand. “See you later, Ciel.”

“Look what your rash actions have done this time,” Will reprimanded Finny who looked upset. “He might even end up having to wear an eye patch because of you.”

The mention of an eye patch caught Ciel’s attention. He was relieved that Sebastian had had to leave and happy that he had been poked in the eye. He felt that Sebastian deserved it for his behaviour earlier on.

“You didn’t do anything too bad,” he said to Finny. “I think you just gave him a surprise.”

When he had finished washing his dishes he found Sebastian waiting for him in the hallway. Sebastian had his arms folded and kept blinking. Ciel noticed that one eye looked sore and smiled to himself.

“Having only one eye must be horrible to live with,” Sebastian said which surprised Ciel.

“You get used to it. Are you lurking out here so you can talk to me?”

Sebastian looked awkward. “I wondered if you were okay with the price. You left so quickly earlier and I haven’t had a chance to talk with you in private.”

Ciel found it extremely weird that the pervert was being considerate. Could he be faking it? He looked closer. There was no sadistic glint in Sebastian’s eyes and he looked like was embarrassed.

The teenage Earl decided that Finny should poke Sebastian in the eye more often.

“I am not going to run away from it,” he sighed. “I signed the contract and I must pay the price.”

“I thought you would have too much pride to run away from it,” Sebastian answered with a smile. “I was right. It’s that or you believed I would never succeed in tracking down the perpetrator.”

It was then that Ciel realised that Sebastian had gauged him well. He had persuaded him to make a contract and the sadist knew that he would accept the price eventually and even knew his reasons for doing so.

What else could Sebastian guess?

“You’re probably wondering how I knew that,” Sebastian said, causing Ciel to twitch. “Once I know a certain amount of information about a person, I can guess their reactions to things. I know a fair amount of information about you.”

Only the first part was a revelation. It wasn’t hard to believe that Sebastian knew a lot about him because he knew things about Sebastian too.

“Of course you do, we live in the same flat and go to the same lectures. I know things too. The most defining things about you are that you are cat obsessed and sadistic. Perverted too,” he added on for good measure.

Sebastian nodded approvingly. “Very good. Now that we aren’t arguing so much, the journey to my house tomorrow will be pleasanter.”

“Only if you bring tea,” was all Ciel said.

* * *

 

Ciel stood outside his block waiting in the cold wind for Sebastian to drive his car round. Whilst he was waiting he warmed up his hands on the flask of tea Sebastian had given him. Much to his happiness Sebastian had also provided cake in a tupperware. He had been pleasantly surprised to find it was homemade angel cake which he hadn’t tasted for years. Now he was almost looking forward to the journey.

As if on cue Sebastian arrived with the car and he sat in the back seat. He had no intention of sitting next to Sebastian. The sadist didn’t even look surprised at his choice in seating and started to drive out the compound. When they were nearly at the laundrette Sebastian suddenly reached round and pushed his head down.

“Hide!”

“Why?” Ciel demanded and tried to get up.

“Trancy is walking past. Do you want him to see us together?”

“No,” Ciel admitted.

If Alois spotted him in Sebastian’s car, he was sure to get an interrogation and he didn’t want to have to lie about why he was with Sebastian.

“Keep your head down until I say so. Trancy just saw me and gave me a dirty look,” Sebastian paused. “What do you tell him about me? He always giving me filthy looks like I have done something bad.”

“I didn’t tell him anything. He just came to the right conclusion by himself,” Ciel said wryly.

“Well, at least I don’t have pink booty shorts to launder,” Sebastian commented and Ciel could detect he was smirking. “You can sit up now.”

Two hours later Ciel was bored. He had finished the cake, the tea and a book and he was reduced to staring out the window at endless fields. Then Sebastian turned onto another road and the view gradually became red brick houses instead.

“You can stop looking bored. We are nearly there.”

He turned another corner into a cul-de-sac where there was only one house that was protected by a gate. Sebastian held out a fob against a sensor and the gates opened. Curiosity got the better of Ciel as he got out the car and looked around.

Naturally the house was nothing compared to the Phantomhive manor, but it wasn’t too bad. It had three floors with a white painted facade surrounded by neat flowerbeds.

“How rich are your parents again?” he asked as he followed Sebastian up the paved garden path.

“Fairly rich considering the company has only been going for ten years and wasn’t overly profitable until eight years ago,” Sebastian answered and unlocked the front door. “Watch out for cats.”

Cautiously Ciel looked around the entryway for any signs of cats. There was none in sight, but appearances could be deceiving.

“How obsessed with cats are you?”

“I have five. They are kept upstairs as my mother hates the hair that they leave everywhere. Are you scared of cats?” the sadist looked disappointed and then his expression cleared. “I remember now, you are allergic to them. I will round them up for you and keep them out the house whilst we are here.”

Something about that sparked a memory and Ciel smiled.

“That’s what my dog Sebastian used to do.”

Sebastian chose not to reply to that and Ciel filed the dog comparison away for future use.

He was led down the plush white carpeted hallway that was decorated with overpoweringly purple flowered wallpaper. Ciel winced at the interior design. His father had sometimes said you could tell when someone was noveau riche by the way they decorated their house.

“Who chose the colour scheme?” he asked.

“My mother, she is always wearing purple and white. I talked her out of having a fountain in the garden- it’s a shame no one talked her out of the colour scheme. The only places it can’t be found are my bedroom and the study.”

They came to a stop outside a closed door.

“This is the study. You can have a look around whilst I round up the cats and find somewhere outside to keep them,” Sebastian turned back. “By the way, the paperweight my father uses is rather creepy so don’t be too scared when you see it.”

Ciel nodded and entered. When compared to the rest of the house the study looked normal. One side had filing cabinets and the other had bookshelves. The desk was situated outside the window where he could see rainclouds gathering in the sky. The bookshelf caught his attention first and he picked out a business related book that he hadn’t been able to find in the university library.

He looked for a place to read it. The most comfortable looking chair was the leather computer chair behind the desk so he sat there. He was about to open the book when he remembered Sebastian’s comment about a paperweight. His determination to prove that he wasn’t easily scared spurned him to find it.

He couldn’t find it on the top of the desk so he went through all the drawers. He found a likely shaped contender in the middle drawer so he picked it out and placed onto the desk for a better look.

He stared at it for a minute to make sure he was seeing it correctly. Or rather he knew what it was; he didn’t want to accept it.

His missing eye had been found.

It was right in front of him, encased in a closed glass ball.

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Wrong Turning:**

**Chapter 11:**

If Sebastian’s father had his eye, did that mean he was the one that gouged his eye out? He remembered that Sebastian’s father had a similar business to Funtom which had only become successful eight years ago. It had been eight years since his parents’ murder.

The perpetrator had to be Sebastian’s father.

He felt nauseous. Finding his eye was enough of a shock, this was on another level.

The door opened and Sebastian came in which brought him out his dark thoughts.

“I’ve removed all the cats for and it’s about to rain. They won’t be happy with me later,” he announced. “...You look even paler than usual. Did something scare you?”

Sebastian’s eye fell on the paperweight and his eyes widened when he realised the significance of it.

“That’s your eye!”

“Can I see a photo of your father?” Ciel cut him off.

Sebastian seemed to sense that he wasn’t in the right mood to be answering questions and he showed him a photo on his phone.

“His name is Ash Landers.”

Ciel looked at the photo of a grey haired and purple eyed man. Memories from eight years ago flashed through his mind and he tried to quell the nausea that was growing inside.

“It’s him,” Ciel said brusquely.

Sebastian was rooted on the spot in shock and Ciel scowled inwardly. Whilst it was true that he wasn’t particularly fond of Sebastian and he did want revenge, he wasn’t selfish enough to continue with their agreement.

“I’m not going to ask you to do anything to your father,” he sighed and reached out to take the paperweight.

Another hand shot out to cover his and he looked up to see Sebastian smiling down at him,

“Do you really think two parents with grey hair and purple eyes are going to produce an offspring with black hair and red eyes?”

Ciel realised that Sebastian was right. The laws of Mendel dictated that Sebastian wasn’t related to them.

“You are adopted?”

“My surname isn’t even the same as theirs,” Sebastian reassured him and pulled him up. “Let’s go somewhere away from the paperweight to discuss this.”

Ciel followed Sebastian to the living room where Sebastian handed him a lollipop from the bowl on the coffee table.

“They are samples from the company. It’s for a new line. They are the most sugary things in this house. Angela says sweets are impure.”

Ciel unwrapped it and licked it cautiously. The caramel taste was familiar and sparked a memory.

“My father was thinking of expanding the company to sweets. He let me try some of the samples. One of them tasted exactly like this.”

A dead silence hung between them after that. Ciel finished the lollipop and tapped Sebastian to get his attention.

“Are you sure about continuing? Even if they aren’t your real parents, they still raised you.”

Aunt Angelina wasn’t his mother, but he still cared for her.

Sebastian smiled faintly. “It’s not that much fun being raised by them. Angela is a strict germaphobe and won’t eat anything that’s processed- I have to keep the cats away from her. Ash is obsessed with making money. He is the one that made me do Business at university so I can take over the business when he retires. I started making contracts with people just so I could do something myself without their interference.”

Ciel could understand his point, but he still had an objection.

“If you take revenge for me, it will ruin your life.”

Now Sebastian looked troubled. Ciel had realised there would be consequences for Sebastian if he did anything to his stepfather.

“Only I get caught,” the sadist said eventually, having regained some of his confidence. “If we do something to him, the company will likely pass to Angela who will give it to me as she knows nothing about it. Then I will take pleasure in selling it.”

Ciel stared at him with a wide eye. “You would destroy your stepfather for money?”

It did make sense Sebastian would be fine with that considering his personality. It was just strange to hear it.

“Well, I am more anticipating the payment of the price,” Sebastian smirked.

For that line he received a deathly glare and Ciel sought to change the subject before he could be teased anymore.

“I have only had one cup of tea today,” he said.

“You had a whole flask,” Sebastian grumbled but stood up anyway. “You can come see all the tea in the kitchen. Angela drinks some really hideous herbal teas.”

Ciel surveyed the collection of tea critically. Overall there was too much herbal and flavoured tea in the collection. Those weren’t real tea. Sebastian pulled out an intricately patterned teapot and a strainer.

“Which tea would you like? You can have a loose tea now that we aren’t at university.”

Ciel picked out Earl Grey and after, he was lead up a white painted staircase.

“Are we going to your bedroom?” he asked feeling wary.

“Yes. Don’t worry about cats- I don’t even have any hidden in my wardrobe.”

“That was not the concern,” Ciel muttered.

Sebastian pushed open the door to reveal his bedroom. As promised it was a complete contrast to the rest of the house as the walls were painted black. Ciel raised an eyebrow at the colour scheme and his eyebrow went up even further when he saw a pin board full of cat pictures.

“Is this your teenage rebellion against your foster parents?” he asked wonderingly.

“It is. I even wore eyeliner for a week in secondary school to annoy them. Angela agreed to let me keep cats after that.”

Ciel sat down on Sebastian’s desk chair self consciously and Sebastian sat down opposite on his bed.

“I didn’t ask this before, but I need to know now. What does revenge against Ash entail to you?”

Ciel had only begun to consider what his revenge would be after that conversation about prices with Alois. Death was too nice for someone that had gouged his eye out and killed his parents.

“I wouldn’t ask you to kill him. I would prefer that he rot away in prison.”

Sebastian stroked his chin thoughtfully. “That would probably destroy him better than killing him. Living prison might even make him go insane- it would be too impure for someone like him.”

Impure? Ciel was confused by the mention of that word again. The confusion must have shown on his face as Sebastian explained what it meant.

“They often refer to things that are dirty or artificial as being impure. Prison would definitely be considered impure.”

“I see,” Ciel replied and sipped his tea. Sebastian’s adopted family were strange. Wouldn’t killing a business rival and maiming a child be considered impure?

“How would you get him sent to prison?” the sadist asked the imperative question. “Your statement wouldn’t be enough to convict him. There wasn’t any evidence left of the murders. I suppose there is the paperweight.”

“That wouldn’t be enough either,” Ciel pointed out. “An admission of guilt from him would definitely work.”

Sebastian looked sceptical. “You would never be able to get him to confess to the Police.”

Ciel sighed. “I know. We will just have to work on it.”

* * *

 

An hour later Ciel knew almost everything he would ever want to know about Ash Landers.

“So he is back from Paris next week?” he summarised. “We can base our plan around that.”

“We can skip lectures too,” Sebastian said. “The next assignment isn’t due for another month so the lectures won’t be useful for a while.”

The mention of university reminded Ciel of his friendship with Alois. His time at university felt far away now that he had found out who his parents’ murderer was. It was an unpleasant feeling. It felt like he was doing something wrong by abandoning the relationships he had made for revenge. He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts. Revenge was what he needed, not friends.

“You look troubled,” Sebastian observed. “We can do something else if all this talk of revenge is worrying you.”

“It’s just been a long day,” Ciel answered hastily, not wanting Sebastian to detect his conflicted feelings.

“I’ll make you some more tea,” Sebastian told him and picked up Ciel’s teacup. “We can talk about Ash and revenge after a tea break.”

When Sebastian returned he found his contractee lying on his bed fast asleep. He put the teacup down on the bedside table and sighed. He had a few options. He opted for the most considerate. He didn’t want Ciel to start distrusting him again.

He shook Ciel’s shoulder gently. “You are not going to sleep here. I’ll take you to the spare room.

Ciel settled himself into another bed whilst Sebastian tucked him in. He pulled on Sebastian’s sleeve to keep him from leaving.

“You are being kind and it’s weird. You aren’t being perverted or sadistic.”

“I can be kind sometimes,” Sebastian told him and kissed him on the forehead. “Good night Ciel.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Wrong Turning:**

**Chapter 12:**

Ciel was awoken by the smell of tea. It was a pleasant thing to be woken by, he reflected as he opened his eye to see Sebastian standing by the bed.

“It’s time to wake up.”

The Earl sat up quickly as he remembered everything from the previous day. The contract now stipulated that Sebastian was going to have to get revenge on his stepfather.

His contractor handed him the teacup and smoothed his messy hair down. Unlike the previous time Sebastian had witnessed his bed head, he didn’t make a comment. He really was being more considerate.

After breakfast they adjourned to the study to look for anything that would help incriminate Ash Landers.

“Your foster parents look uncannily similar. Are you sure they aren’t brother and sister?” Ciel asked.

“They are cousins,” Sebastian answered. “It is surprisingly still legal here to marry your cousin.”

“That explains why they look alike,” Ciel commented before turning to his exploration of Ash Landers’s files.

When he reached F, he found whole section devoted to Funtom. Immediately he pulled them all out. In one he found the plans for the expansion of the company to confectionery. Also included was the proposal for the caramel lollipops.

“I found proof that his new line of sweets originates from Funtom,” Ciel announced and placed he incriminating evidence on a pile.

By midday the pile had grown substantially and they stopped for a tea break. It was Sebastian that added some pessimism.

“Most of what we have found is circumstantial evidence and wouldn’t hold up in court. A direct confrontation is still needed.”

Ciel nodded unsurely. He still had no idea how a guilty confession could be extracted from Ash.

“I suggest we meet him somewhere fitting and produce everything and claim that it would lead to him getting arrested. You never know, meeting you again might incite a guilty admission without he evidence.”

Ciel shuddered slightly at the thought of seeing Ash again. The last time he had seen him, the man had been holding his eyeball. He reminded himself that he couldn’t have revenge if he didn’t meet him face to face.

“If you’re worried about seeing him again, I will protect you,” Sebastian said and placed his arm around him.

Ciel pushed the arm away. “You’d better do a good job.”

“I will try my best. Can you think of a suitable place for a confrontation? We can’t do it where he could have people around to help him.”

The Earl considered it and realised there was a fitting place for it.

“The Phantomhive manor,” he said. “The site hadn’t been sold off or built on.”

“What kind of condition is it in? It wouldn’t be good if it fell on us.”

Ciel made a face. He had no idea. His aunt had moved away from the area immediately after taking him into her care and he had never seen the ruins in person- newspaper photos had been his only frame of reference.

His aunt might know the state of the manor, but she would be extremely suspicion of his motives for asking. Then he found the solution. He did know someone that was currently living in the right area.

“My cousin goes to university in the town next to it. She might know or be able to visit it,” he explained.

He left the room to phone here. Considering she had been the person to warn him about Sebastian it would not be wise to speak to her in front of him. Lizzie picked up the phone on the first ring.

“Ciel! Has Sebastian done anything to you!?” she demanded immediately.

Her concern was understandable due to the context of their last conversation. He was now glad that Sebastian wasn’t around to hear that.

“No, he had been... behaving recently. I actually called to ask you for a favour.”

“A favour?” she sounded intrigued. “That’s unusual for you.”

“It is important. Do you know what state the manor is in?”

His cousin sounded confused. “I did visit it once in Fresher’s week to see if it had been vandalised. It’s untouched actually. Apparently, it’s rumoured to be haunted- that’s what keeps people away.”

“That is useful to know,” he said to her. “Do any parts look unsafe?”

“The east wing looks like it’s about to finally fall down, the entranceway looked the most secure. The back of the house has collapsed,” she paused. “Are you planning on going there?”

Ciel decided it would be best to lie. There was a chance she would tell his aunt if he let her know he was planning a visit.

“Not at all. I was simply curious,” he lied.

Fortunately she believed him. “I understand. However, please promise me that you will do something for me in return.”

Past experiences made Ciel hesitant to agree.

“What is it?”

“Promise me that you won’t fall for any of Sebastian’s tricks.”

“I promise,” he said. Sebastian had been kinder since the revelation the previous say. He was beginning to feel that he could trust him.

* * *

 

The pair returned to halls the next day, having completed searching Ash’s files over the weekend and made copies of evidence. The flat now felt completely foreign to Ciel and he felt that he no longer belonged there.

Finny happened to come out the kitchen as they came in the front door and nearly dropped his mug of tea.

“Did you two spend the weekend together?”

Ciel knew that Finny was the worst possibly person to see right now. Bardroy and Will would have simply greeted them and carried on.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Ciel said hastily and unlocked his room.

Right before the door closed behind him he heard Sebastian say:

“Appearances can be deceiving; it isn’t what it looks like.”

That made Ciel nod in satisfaction. If it had been a week ago, Sebastian would have made an innuendo instead of telling the truth.

There was another issue to deal with before he confronted Ash. His absence for lectures. Alois would want to know why he was missing. He sent him a text saying that he had a bad cold again and would be off for the whole week.

Alois’ reply offered to buy him anything he needed and Ciel smiled sadly. He was probably going to lose the only friend he had never had to revenge.

It was sad, but revenge was the priority.

He met up with Sebastian in his room after dinner. Ciel noted that Sebastian had changed his cat duvet cover to a black and white checked set.

“I have arranged to meet Ash next weekend at the Phantomhive manor. He was curious as to why, but I managed to persuade him.”

The event was set and all they had to do was arrange everything that was going to happen there.

After three days of planning, Ciel was beginning to feel ill. Even drinking tea couldn’t make him feel better. On the fourth day Sebastian noticed.

“Ciel, you need to go outside and have a break. You haven’t gone outside for four days or do anything besides plan and drink tea. We are going outside.”

The teenager didn’t put up much of a fight. He knew he needed a break so he retrieved his coat and followed Sebastian out. They walked towards the park.

“Do you want me to push you on a swing?” Sebastian offered.

“I may look younger than my age, but I am not that young,” Ciel griped.

Sebastian pointed towards the bushes at the side where Ciel could see a WKD bottle sticking out and several beer cans.

“I think it’s more people our age that have fun here,” his flatmate noted. “If we looked deeper we could probably find some used syringes.”

That convinced Ciel that it wouldn’t be too bad to sit on the swings. He drew the line at the climbing frame and the slide though.  Sebastian sat on the swing next to him. Ciel hoped he wouldn’t show off. To his relief Sebastian didn’t try and they both sat there quietly.

“You are banned from discussing my parents and revenge for the next thirty minutes,” Sebastian said.

Upon hearing that Ciel realised that those were the only things he had been thinking about for the past week.

“I don’t really have anything to talk about then,” he admitted.

Sebastian looked unfazed. “I thought you would say that. You could ask me how I am one hell of a tea maker.”

Ciel rolled his eye. “If I asked, I wouldn’t term it like that.”

For that he got a pat on the head. “That’s more like you. You could also ask how I am such a wonderful cake baker.”

“That’s better,” Ciel conceded. “I still wouldn’t term it like that though.”

Sebastian looked thoughtfully. “I don’t have anything else I am superior at that comes to mind... What about, why is your kissing ability slightly above average?”

It took Ciel a few seconds to catch onto the full meaning behind it.

“That’s more like how I would ask- Sebastian!”

The pervert smiled at him. “Took you long enough.”

Ciel waved his hand dismissively. He was feeling better thanks to Sebastian's distraction technique so he was not particularly annoyed.

“Would you still want me to make you tea after the contract is over?” Sebastian enquired.

The answer didn’t come easily to Ciel. He had conflicting feelings about Sebastian. He had despised him for a couple of months and then he became tolerable. Did he find him likeable?

“...Yes.”

Sebastian looked him straight in the eye for the next question.

“Would you want me to stay by your side forever?”

* * *

 

  **Just a warning to say that the price is paid/taken in the next chapter. It might not be what you were expecting...**  

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Wrong Turning:**

**Chapter 13:**

Several days later Ciel tied up his shoelaces and picked up his backpack. He surveyed his room critically. The next time he returned here, he would have obtained revenge.

He would also owe Sebastian a price.

The prospect of it didn’t seem so bad now as they were closer. He had answered yes to Sebastian’s question at the park. He had to yet to admit anything deeper though.

Ciel stepped out his room and found Sebastian waiting outside in the hallway for him.

“Have you got everything?”

“I have,” Sebastian confirmed. “Let’s go.”

The sun was shining weakly through the clouds in the sky as Ciel waited for Sebastian. He half wanted to the see the sun properly as it would encourage him to believe he was going to succeed, but it was late November. Some sun was at least better than grey clouds and rain.

“If you’re worried about rain, I checked the forecast again,” Sebastian called out, alerting Ciel to his presence. He had failed to notice the car approach.

“Did you prepare any snacks?” he asked conversationally as he sat in the front passenger seat. “It is a long journey.”

Sebastian nodded. “Of course I did. You can start them when we get halfway.”

Ciel pouted and drew out his tin of travel sweets.

“Those are terrible for your teeth,” his flatmate commented. “Does your aunt approve of them?”

Ciel pulled a face. “She had never specifically banned them. Besides she said I can eat what I like as long as it doesn’t affect my health.”

“I suppose I should be grateful to her for providing a way for us to meet.”

Ciel reflected on it. If his aunt had never forced him into attending this particular university by cheating at chess, he would probably be at Cambridge studying Mathematics with fresh cuts. As a result of her action he was now close to obtaining revenge and had harmed himself since the summer. It was strange how things worked out.

* * *

 

The car pulled up the driveway to the Phantomhive manor causing an influx of childhood memories for Ciel. He reminded himself that he needed to stay alert and not get caught up in memories.

Sebastian checked his watch. “We have two hours until Ash arrives.”

“I’m going to find the best place,” Ciel announced and got out the car.

He walked past the defunct fountain and up the stone steps. Lizzie had said the front of the house looked the most stable. He agreed with her.

The structure of the east wing looked weak and the west wing was a pile of stone and brick. Out of habit he walked through where the front door used to be with his shoes tapping on the solid foundations.

The roof had completely gone, he realised as he looked up. It was here that he had run and been caught by Ash. It was the most apt location on the site to host the confrontation.

He returned to Sebastian and noticed he was on his phone.

“I’ve found a good place,” he informed him.

Sebastian replaced his phone in his pocket. “Have you? I will bring everything then.”

He retrieved the chessboard from the boot of the car and several other items. Sebastian asked him an unexpected question on the way up to the house.

“Does my hair look alright?”

Ciel rolled his eye. “There is a time and a place to show your vanity- now is not it.”

Sebastian didn’t press for an answer and they set up everything according to plan. Once they had finished Ciel began to feel anxious about the confrontation. Sebastian squeezed his hand comfortingly as they sat down on the steps to wait for Ash to arrive.

* * *

 

He heard footsteps approaching and his heartbeat quickened as the man that had gouged his eye out came into view. Following him was Angela which had not been part of the plan. That should have been the first hint that something was wrong.

Ash locked eyes with him and grinned nastily.

“Ciel Phantomhive. I suppose you invited me here as part of some convoluted plan to get revenge.”

Ciel gritted his teeth. It hadn’t been surprising that Ash had guess why he had been summoned to the Phantomhive manor.

“Is it really possible for you to have never grown since I last saw you?”

Ciel ignored the insult. “What I want-“

Ash held out his hand to interrupt.

“It seems like a wonderful coincidence that you attend the same university as Sebastian and managed to get me here. Or is it really a coincidence?”

The abrupt change in conversation was confusing.

“Excuse me?”

Ash smirked. “You should ask yourself why you came to attend that particular university.”

It had been his aunt that had made him.

“I didn’t choose to. My aunt did.”

“Why did your aunt decide on that particular university? It’s not the top university for Business- it’s ranked highly in the ranking tables, but not at the top. Why even that subject in the first place?”

Ciel considered it and realised he had no idea why she had chosen that university, that course and forced him to go.

“If you want to know, it’s because an anonymous benefactor offered to pay if you attended that university. She accepted and here you are.”

“W-What?”

“In case you hadn’t worked it out yet, that anonymous benefactor was me. I arranged everything.”

Ciel took a deep breath. Ash had arranged for him to attend a certain university just to get him here. That also meant...

He turned to look at Sebastian behind him. Something appeared to be strange about him. He hadn’t reacted to what Ash had said and his eyes were wrong somehow. They weren’t as piercing as usual. Then Ciel got it.

“Why are your eyes purple?”

Sebastian held out his hand to Ciel. In his palm was two coloured red contact lenses.

“Because I took my contact lenses out just now.”

If Sebastian’s eyes were really purple, that defied what he had said about him not being related to Ash and Angela because of his hair and eye colour. That meant he really was Ash’s son and had lied.

Sebastian grabbed his hand.

“Do you remember when you stumbled drunk into my bathroom? You saw something that I didn’t want you to. I hid them after, but I worried when you mentioned it once.”

Ciel thought back desperately. He had no idea what was going on, however it might be explained to him if he answered the question.

“Beauty, no hair products...? Hair dye?”

He realised it when he recalled Sebastian’s comments about his hair and his question from an hour earlier. If he thought back about his eyes as well, his reaction to being poked in the eye by Finny made sense.

Finny had poked his contact lens.

How could he have missed all the hints? The emphasis that Sebastian had put on his red eyes and black hair being evidence that he wasn’t related to Ash had been strange.

“Why are you revealing this now?” he asked fearfully.

If Sebastian had removed his disguise it meant the need for it was gone.

“Because the time for charades is over,” Angela said calmly.

He tried to shake off Sebastian’s grip, but Sebastian was too strong.

“I had no intention of ever seeing you again, Ciel Phantomhive,” Ash brought his attention back to him. “My company has succeeded as a result of killing your parents and you can’t get me convicted on your testimony alone- there’s was no need to deal with you again.”

“Then what changed?”

“When Sebastian finished school, he told me that he didn’t want to be part of the family anymore. I agreed to let him go freely if he tied up a loose end for me. He agreed and started planning- he even made me change his surname for this.”

So Sebastian had targeted him just so he could be free of Ash and Angela. That was horribly selfish of him. He had been right all along. Sebastian was one hell of a sadist.

“If you want anyone to blame for what is going to happen to you, blame Sebastian,” Angela told him. “You could also blame yourself for being so desperate to take revenge. When you entered the contract for revenge, you sealed your own fate.”

Ciel’s head was beginning to spin. He had been lied to and tricked. He had to escape somehow. Sebastian still had a vicelike grip on his hand and he hadn’t told anyone he was here. Now he regretted lying to Alois.

“What does taking care of a loose end entail?” he forced himself to ask.

“Sebastian will demonstrate,” Ash said. “We will leave you to it. Sebastian, don’t come out until you have finished.”

Ash and Angela filed out leaving him alone with Sebastian. Ciel’s heartbeat went into overdrive when Sebastian’s hand moved to his chin.

“Whilst the contract was just a device to get you to trust me and agree to meet Ash and means nothing, you might be interested to know what the price is. You see, you got it very, very wrong. It was fun to lead you along the wrong path so I didn’t correct you. In any case you would have run away if you had known the truth.”

Ciel’s panicked mind went through the hints. Something that can only be given once, less innocent than a kiss and might hurt a bit at first. Sebastian’s hands slid down to his neck.

“You can only give me your life once, death isn’t innocent and I’m sure it will hurt at first when I kill you.”

Ciel felt Sebastian’s hands close around his neck and squeeze tightly.

“Good bye, Ciel.”

* * *

**A/N:** **There isn't a character death tag on this story by the way. I'm pointing that out before I get an influx of angry comments.**

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Wrong Turning:**

**Chapter 14:**

He opened his eye with some difficulty and found it so tiring that he gave up and closed it again. Faintly he could hear someone telling to wake up and something being pushed down his throat.

He ignored the voice and fell into unconsciousness.

He woke up for real and found himself in a yellow painted room with something attached to his hand. He blinked a few times and saw someone with red hair and a white coat standing by his bed.

Was he in hospital?

He looked at the person by his bed again and recognised her.

It was his aunt.

He tried to speak and a wave of dryness in his throat prevented him. He remembered everything then. Sebastian had revealed his face and just about killed him.

“Don’t try to speak at the moment,” she ordered and then shed the doctor persona. “Don’t worry me like that again!”

He underwent an examination and found out exactly what had happened. He had needed resuscitation and intubation and had been unconscious for almost two days.

“How am I still alive? No one else knew I was there?” he asked once he had been given water and a supply of stronger painkillers.

Angelina sat down in the chair next to his bed.

“A combined effort of people that were sharper than you,” she said with no genuine rebuke.

“I should not have trusted him,” Ciel sighed.

“No, you should not have,” she agreed. “You have people wanting to see you. When are you ready to have visitors?”

Visitors probably entailed Lizzie or Alois. Lizzie had made him promise to not get tricked by him and Alois had never liked him. Seeing them would remind him how stupid he had been to go along with Sebastian. He wasn’t ready for that yet.

“Tomorrow perhaps.”

Her response was to nod and stand up.

“They are at reception, I’ll go and tell them to come back tomorrow.”

Ciel caught the back of her coat. “What happened to _them_?”

She understood exactly what he meant.

“The three of them fled. You need to give a statement to the Police when you are ready so warrants can be issued for their arrests.”

She left him then and he lay there alone. He had messed up badly. He had known Sebastian was highly suspicious from that start and had begun to trust him once Sebastian had changed. It had all been an act.

He had even admitted to that sadistic bastard that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him.

* * *

 

The sight of Lizzie and Alois walking together into his room was one of the most surreal things he had even seen. His cousin was decked out in pink and her giant bow in her hair had been reinstated. Alois had toned down his outfit by omitting the booty shorts, but the clash of varying shades of purple was painful to see.

Lizzie held out a green tin to him.

“I brought you a present. I didn’t think you would be able to cope with nasty hospital tea so I have some teabags.”

Ciel accepted it awkwardly having no immediate plans to drink tea ever again due to the reminder of Sebastian. He looked over at Alois who had his hands behind his back.

“I brought some books with me.”

His friend passed over a stack of novels and Ciel struggled to hold the weight with a IV on his hand so Lizzie placed them on the bedside table.

“How did you all manage to find me?” he asked to break the silence that had been present once the gift giving was completed.

“It was me, Will, Elizabeth and your aunt,” Alois informed him. “I stopped by to see how you were recovering and Will told me that he had heard you leave with Sebastian an hour before. I found that extremely strange so I called your aunt- she gave me her number when we first met in case anything happened.”

Ciel thought back to his aunt’s mysterious visit. The reason for it was clear now. She had been suspicious of why someone had wanted to send him there.

“It turned out she was pretty suspicious of Sebastian and called me to ask if I knew anything. I remembered your question about your old house and we added things up together. I called the Police out there. You were found almost dead in the ruins with no sign of any of them,” Lizzie explained.

Ciel resolved to have a word with his aunt about her suspicions of Sebastian and why she hadn’t said a word to him.

“Were you under some sort of agreement for revenge with him?” Alois questioned. “I remembered that question you asked me once.”

“Yes, we were in some sort of agreement. It was all simply a trap.”

“You should have told me about it instead of keeping it quiet. Sebastian was clearly a sadistic dickhead from the start.”

He saw Lizzie kick Alois under his bed for asking a question like that. He smiled slightly over that. She had always been a little overprotective of him.

“He was.”

The already awkward conversation lapsed into silence and was only interrupted when his aunt poked her head in. She apologised for interrupting and checked his neck.

“You have some nasty bruises forming. They won’t be permanent,” she informed him and rearranged his duvet. “Were you all busy talking?”

The look on Ciel’s face was enough of an answer. She pulled a pack of playing cards out her pocket.

“I confiscated these from the children’s ward. A group of them were playing poker with them for the use of the hospital toys. You can play with them. Be warned, Ciel is very good.”

She left them to it. Ciel shuffled the cards and arranged them neatly. An hour later he had won £50 from Alois and £20 from Lizzie.

“How is he still winning?” he heard Alois whisper to Lizzie. “If he wins anymore, I can’t do my laundry this week. I have five pairs of shorts to wash, you know.”

That made Ciel smile and he realised he had been spotted when Lizzie beamed at him.

“You finally smiled! You looked so down when we came here and Aunt Ann said she heard from the nurse on night duty that you had nightmares,” Lizzie said.

“I will be fine in a few days.”

* * *

 

He obtained a further background information from his aunt later on. She came in and visibly relaxed when she saw him sitting up reading a book instead of lying down and looking miserable.

“You look better,” she commented and dragged a chair over. “I need to confess something.”

Ciel looked up and remembered he was missing her side of the story.

“When you were looking into universities, I received an offer. The sender said they would pay part of your university fees and your maintenance loan if you did Business at a certain university. The sender claimed to be sympathetic about the downfall of Funtom and suggested you take Business so you could build it up again. Half the money was provided with the letter and I agreed to it and challenged you to that chess match.”

The Earl gritted his teeth. Had she really sent him there based on that?

“I had a personal reason too,” she seemed to guess his thoughts. “I knew you wanted to study Maths at Cambridge, but I didn’t think the social side and the types of people there would help you.”

Help him? Did that mean she had always known more than she had let on?

She took hold of the arm that wasn’t connected to an IV and pushed up the sleeve on the pyjamas he was wearing. Ciel’s eye widened.

“I’ve know what you’ve been doing for a long time.”

Ciel tore his arm out her grip. “Why did you never help me!?”

His aunt averted her eyes. “It was mistake to never try to help you. I thought you would be fine as long as you didn’t overdo it- I would have stepped in if you had shown signs of getting worse. I thought it would be something that you would grow out of when you go to university.”

“I thought you were a doctor,” Ciel said harshly.

She looked guilty. “I have made several mistakes with your safety now. When you came back for reading week with no new marks I was very relieved. Then I noticed how worried you were.”

“So you visited me.”

Something must have made her change her mind and give him that offer to give up and come home.

“I came to see who was around you. I knew it wasn’t Alois - I began to think it was one of your flatmates causing you distress. I met Sebastian and he was so creepy and suspicious. He called me Madam Red.”

“What’s the significance of that? You do wear a lot of red.”

Angelina now looked embarrassed. “It’s what I used to be called at parties. I haven’t been to a party since I adopted you so it was strange. I didn’t think that it was a coincidence that he used that name so I told you that you could leave at any time.”

Ciel stared at her silently. She had had his best interests at heart when she had sent him there. They had both made mistakes regarding trust and believing lies.

* * *

 

For the following day his only visitor was Lizzie as Alois had an important tutorial to attend. She had brought flowers and cards from people he knew. Finny had given him a bouquet of flowers that he had clearly picked himself as there was still soil on the stems. Bardroy’s flowers smelled heavily of smoke. His university course had teamed together to sign a card and a box of chocolates.

He watched Lizzie struggle to arrange Finny’s mismatched flowers in a vase and since she was taking so long his mind drifted off onto other matters.

Prior to making the contract Sebastian had said that there was no point in the price of their contract being his death as he had already decided to give up on life. So why had the real price been his death?

“Are you thinking about him again?” Lizzie’s voice jerked him out his thoughts.

Ciel explained what he had been wondering about just so he could get someone else’s view on it.

“He is a very cruel person is all I can say,” she commented unexpectedly. “He gave you things to live for so when he came to take your life you would not want to die.”

With that he understood. Sebastian had seduced him just to be cruel right at the end. He was never going to make a mistake like that again.

“Do you still want to live so you can get revenge on him?”

He was unable to answer that. It was a complex question. Trying to obtain revenge for what happened eight years ago had almost caused his downfall. Going after Sebastian would probably be the end of him and when he woke up in hospital he had been relived to find out that he had survived. He didn’t have a genuine desire to die.

He looked at Lizzie and saw that she was fiddling with her hair. Having spent a lot of his childhood with her, he recognised what it meant.

“What do you have to tell me?”

She pointed at the flowers. “There was one more bouquet delivered this morning. It was some lilies. Aunt Ann took them…”

From that Ciel knew who the sender was.

“Were they from _him_?”

“There was a card with them- that’s now she knew who they were from. There was a USB with it that she gave to the Police.”

“What did the card say?”

His aunt had probably taken it too. He was surprised when she produced it from her bag.

“Aunt Ann said I could give it to you if I thought you were ready for it.”

She handed it over and Ciel opened it.

_Dear Ciel,_

_I hope you like my flowers. I chose lilies to represent how close you were to death._

_Do you think your survival was due to my incompetence? Or that it was a miracle?”_

_The answer is neither. I let you survive. I regretted that I did not get to play with you enough so I let you go._

_My parents believe that you are dead so I am now free of them. As a thank you for that I have enclosed a USB containing copies of everything we ever found and a recording of Ash admitting everything. You can do anything you want with it- I do not care what happens to them._

_One day, I will come to you to take the price properly. So please keep living for that. Feel free to try to track me down first- I get to see you sooner that way._

_Yours lovingly._

_Sebastian_

_xxx_

Ciel crumpled the card in his hand.

“Bloody sadist,” he cursed.

“What are you going to do?” Lizzie asked worriedly.

Ciel flanked out the window at the clear blue sky outside,

“I’m going to live so I can outwit him when he comes for me.”

The End

***

 

**This fanfiction is  a rewrite of my first fanfiction, Contracts and Cake which can be found on here by clicking on my other pseud. That fanfic has a completely different ending and the price of the contract is exactly what it sounds like (smut). So if people didn't like this ending, they can go and read that one.**

 

 

 

 

 

 


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